the wild horse project

2012-02-02T13:58:00.000+13:00

I didn't really get around to fine tuning my last post, i just typed the news out, didn't proof read and then pressed post. this is what happens when your tired though, nothing gets done with the usual finesse, used when you have time and energy up your sleeve. There was something i wanted to mention, but didn't get around to previously. Now feels like the right time to talk bout it.

i think I've talked before about how our expectations affect how are horses behave, as does our preparation and training we put into them. Well never are these things more relevant, than at horse shows.This is where a handlers/riders nerves, inconsistencies, or lack of training, all rears in ugly head in the form of horses misbehaving. Now i have never had a problem taking horses to shows for the first time, in fact i have taken four in the last month to there very first events. Its true that the wild mare was exceptionally quiet, but none of mine at least, behave much differently than they do at home. they don't suddenly become monsters, they might walk around with their eyes wide open, but that's about it.

some of it i think really does just come down to our expectations. I don't expect mine to misbehave, and they don't. Because i don't expect it, i handle and act the same way around them that i do at home, so they react as the normally would around me. Now i have been to hundreds of shows in my life so i am pretty calm about the whole thing, i still get nervous from time to time, but i know if i start acting nervous my horse will pick up on it straight away and reproduce the effect ten fold, so i always try and stay very outwardly calm. horses are also suckers for routine, they like the same routine day in and day out, it gives them security. So if your at home and it takes 20mins to brush, saddle up, and fuss over your horse, and then at a show, rush around in panic, it usually this change in their routine and your body language that upsets them. Same if your warming them up, why change the way you warm them up from what you do at home, all this communicates, is that something very different is about to happen, and they have no idea what. I always wander around on a loose rein at home for a couple minutes, i do the same at the show, I'm not suddenly clutching the reins, trying to pull their head in or make them look pretty in front of my fellow competitors, i just let them look around and then carry on like i do at home in the paddock.

Secondly you get out what you put in. If you've missed bits in your training, or don't practice certain things, its not magically going to come together on show day. The main thing is manners, if you kind of let your horse smooch all over you at home when hes relaxed, and be right on top of you, or even paying you no attention at all. You get to the show and suddenly it leaping all over you and dragging you across the truck park, its not because your at a show, it because you never taught it manners, and now when its nervous it doesn't have a leader to look after it. Its always just basic stuff, horses like leaders, then they feel safe, if your getting walked all over, your not the leader and therefore not looking after your horse. Its not magic, teaching them to stand still when handled, not bump into you, and not be looking off in the distance, will produce a horse that stands calmly at show, because they know the rules, and they feel secure that someone else is the boss and looking after them. No magical, potions, gimmicks, or trick required. Get the ground manners right, so the horse, is calm and easy to handle, by the time you get on its back its already in a calm state of mind and then you can only improve from their. Horses arent born with manners and knowing how to behave its something we teach them, and teaching them always works out better in the long run

I know of, and have worked for, so many people that are sure that there horse is going to be 'wild' at the show, some even giving them calming medicine before the horse has a chance to misbehave. The poor horses most of the time would have been absolutely fine, we just get so nervous we feed our own expectations onto them. There was the one horse that used to drag me around the showgrounds like a steam train, and then leap in the air at the smallest thing, it wasn't a big horse horse but it was pushy, i remember praying that the lead rope wouldn't snap as i tried to hold onto it head and slightly point it in the right direction. I was youngish at the time, and my advice would definitely not have been considered, i was there to "let it look around until it settles, and not upset it". After a few shows i had enough of it, so as soon as the owners were out of sight, i made it stand still, it wasn't allowed to take a step without my permission, also the lead rope was always loose, i never had to pull on it, it wasn't allowed to jump on top of me, shoulder barge or run me down. You know what that horse was perfectly relaxed and calm after that, we never had issues and it was lovely to ride...of course owners thought it was just the calming past finally taking effect....

Wild horse to show horse

2012-01-31T17:04:00.001+13:00

I'm late posting this, but i have finally got around to sharing the good news. The wild mare, Fern, went to her first show and did fantastically. Travelled well, behaved fantastically and jumped like a super star. Couldn't really have asked for much more.

It was the first event of the Autumn calender, and i took three horses, just to keep me busy for the weekend. Fern, my big warm blood, and another young pony I'm schooling for a friend. The Wild mare however was the star of the show. doing a fantastic dressage test, clear showjumping, not blinking an eye at the colourful poles, and galloped around the cross country like shes been doing it all her life. Although, gallop may be a strong word, grey thought a sedate canter was far more appropriate, and so she cruised up and down hill, through the water jump and across the flats in a beautiful relaxed pace.

Showjumping

Finishing the dressage

For those of you who may not know, i do eventing, which consists of three phases. First always is the dressage, based on how well you ride a pattern, and how your horse goes, it basically testing your accuracy and finesse as a rider and seeing how obliging and obedient your horse is. You get a percentage mark, that is then converted into penalty points, with the aim being to get the lowest penalties.

Second phase, in a one or two day event, is showjumping. This is just a course of colourful jumps set up in a set order. For every rail you knock down, you get four penalties, if your horse stops, four penalties again, also if you go over time, you get penalties for every second you go over. The idea is to be under time and leave all the jumps up, not adding to your dressage score.

Thirdly is the cross country, basically big solid obstacles like logs, ramps, ditches, drops into water etc etc, usually there will be about twenty jumps in a course, and its is a lot longer than the showjumping. For every jump you horse refuses, or runs out at, you get twenty penalties, and again if your over the time you get penalties for every second that your over.

The aim of eventing really is to get the lowest dressage score possible, and then don't add any jump penalties to it. which is exactly what Fern did. Which is awesome for any horses first competition let alone a wild horses.

Human vs humanely

2012-01-14T15:15:00.001+13:00

Human vs humane, is there a difference? How do we perceive animals? How do we treat them?? Do you think of them as a cute little person in fur suit? Or as a just an animal that lives in the moment, similar, but the not the same as humans? With twenty children coming through my property and another ten in a week, I have been doing a lot of observing of people different interactions with animals. Not just horses, but the dogs, cats, geese, chickens and other assortments of animals we have on the farm.

Personally, I love animals; I can watch them and be around them all day. I don't find them gross or repulsive, yes it stinks when they crap, and its undesirable to be licked by a dog after its jus gobbled up a mouthful of rotten, decomposing animal. But is doesn't put me off them. But i don't see them as humans. They have emotions like we do, if can see that they get sad, happy, hurt, scared, playful and grumpy. But they do not think like we do, they think as their species would and see the world as it applies to them, not to us. I know my cat like to be stroked, the dog patted, my horses to be brushed and my pet goose likes to come sit down right next to me but not necessarily be touched at all, it what makes them all special and unique, but not human.

Watching the kids (and their parents), some wanted nothing more than to pick up and hold any animal they saw, it was like a cute little toy to them. Not saying they didn't love them, just they didn't see them for what they were. Some of the kids could never understand why the horse just didn't do what the kid wanted, not because it was a "naughty" pony, but because it didn't make that connection between having its name screeched at it, was meant to communicate to go trot over a jump twenty feet away. Or that crawling around on your hands and knees after a calf pretending to eat grass, was not going to fool the calf into thinking you're the same species.

But some kids naturally understood, they could tell when the dogs wanted a pat on the head, or when they were trying to get away from the throng of kids surrounding it, they could tell that to a baby bird being picked up and carried away from its mother, was not a pleasant experience and just let them eat out of their hands instead. They knew when the horse was being lazy and when it was just confused or anxious. They got that different animals, like different things, and behaved differently.

Now i think a lot of this understanding can be taught, but some of it just comes down to a natural awareness of what's going on around you. I had many a talk to kids, about how their behavior affected the horse they were riding, most of them really did understand what I was saying and then genuinely tried to improve the way they communicated with their horse. Like I said, all these kids loved, at least the idea, of animals, but only a few really understood the animals. Most of them once taught, could pick up on a horse mood once I showed them what to look for, and developed an understanding of how an equine mind worked, and they really improved their riding.

Its sometimes a fine line between having a horse or an animal well behaved and under control, to being cruel to it. One girl loved horses, her parents raved to me about how much animals loved their child. I can tell you her horse's life was misery 90% of the time she was around it, and my animals went to great lengths to avoid her company. Yes she spent a long time brushing it, oiling its hooves and putting fancy sprays on its coat, but this means absolutely nothing to the horse, it didn't know that her parents spent a fortune on grooming supplies, even though they told the pony how much money it was costing them daily. All pony knew was that, the girl yelled at him every couple of seconds. He didn't lift his foot fast enough she screeched, no calmly keeping your hand their and lifting foot for it to be cleaned, nope she just yelled in his face. Didn't want the bridle, it got the bit banged on its teeth. Didn't go when she wanted she yelled and pulled on the reins, it did go and she kept booting it in the ribs, if she didn't have fun the pony didn't get fed. No matter what that pony did, he got yelled at, kicked, his mouth yanked on, or hit with the whip. That was one angry pony, there was no escape so he just shut down, and stayed away from her as long as he could.

Now she wasn't a bad kid, but didn't understand her horse, a bit of understanding and kindness goes a long way no matter the species. You don't have to treat it like a person, just like a living creature. Maybe yelling words at a person would work but to the animal they only hear loud angry noise. Needless to say that little girl's behavior, wasn't acceptable around me. We had a nice calm talk, and explained the error of her ways. E.g smashing a metal bit into his teeth didn't want to make him open his mouth, only communicated the fact the bridle was even scarier and more painful than he thought. I would like to say a miracle happened and from then on she was never mean to her horse, but that would be a lie. I had to constantly remind her to pause, think about how her horse saw her actions, and then find a new way of getting what she wanted. It kind of worked. Horse and rider both got along better and improved.

Then on the last day, her parents arrived to pick her up, you know how they communicated as a family, they screeched and screamed and yelled, no different from how the girl treated the horse. I just gave a mental sigh, how do you tell a parent that the only way their child was going to succeed with her horse, was to treat it better than her parents treated her??

Human and animals alike we all need a bit of understandings and patience and to be treated humanely, but we definitely don't all need to be treated as a human.

2012-01-04T21:26:00.000+13:00

Wow, is it the new year already? I'm only just getting used to 2011, and now its 2012. But no matter how fast 2011 went by, it will definitely be a year to remember. Natural disasters the world over, extreme weather patterns, political upheaval and war throughout many countries,not to mention the ongoing recession, the world was a slightly unsettled place the last 12months. So ignoring the Mayan calender predicting the end of the world, and the fact that the new year started to pouring rain and knee deep mud, its no wonder many of us are looking forward to a a fresh start in the new year, and globally a more settled year than the previous one.

Some of us have resolutions, goals and plans for the year ahead. I have a couple, i feel like 2012 is the year for adventure, hence the Egypt trip. But also it feels a bit like crunch time, a make it or break it, year for my business, and my competing. My good horse is getting to a level where it getting exciting, we have a goal in mind to qualify for certain event, right before i fly off overseas, and hopefully get top 5 placing, hes no longer 'green' and is at a stage where we can really 'go for it' as far as results. The pressure is on, so to speak, to show all these years of training have not been in vain.

As far as the wild horses go, i have set my self a deadline, January 21st is the date i have set for Fern, the wild mare's, first show. Shes is going to join my competition team, and i have set a jumping day as her first event. I am someone who needs deadlines and goals especially for my own horses, as otherwise things fall by the wayside, while i work clients horses, or get distracted on other jobs that need doing. , Fern is ready there is no point delaying, she happily jumps anything, goes well under saddle, and i just think it will be the funniest thing in the world to turn up to shows with my 17hh warm blood and my little wild mare....Although i don't think anyone would ever guess she is from the wild to see her go.

As well as Fern, and my warm bloods,i have a couple of other young horses, and a couple of clients horses all to be out competing, and the number of horses i have in work has doubled.I even have another wild horse in my team, Tussock the kaimanawa, has come to stay, for a little schooling and to be ridden by kids. Did I mention the ten kids that arrive on Monday, to spend a week with their ponies, horse riding, camping on the farm, playing in the mud and generally creating chaos. 2012 is already shaping up to be a busy year.

Here are the nine kids that we had the week before Christmas. A really fun group of kids, who are at that level where sitting on your pony all day is the best thing in the world.Tussock the Kaimanawa is the third from the right.

So What about everyone else, what big changes are happening this year, do you have new years resolutions, dreams, goals and plans for the next twelve months??

oh wait i do have one new years resolutions to share. I must get more photos of Fern for this blog! Because as to date, i don't have a single photo of her under saddle, to prove how well she is going, definitely something to work towards in the new year..

2011-12-13T20:03:00.000+13:00

Okay back on track, in case any of you thought id completely forgotten my wild horses for Egypt instead, they are doing great. Life has been hectic, competing, on weekends, traveling Friday, working non-stop Monday-Thursday, i haven't had a chance to hit the keyboard and talk about the wild horses in a while.Well today even though its summer, we have torrential rain and flooding, and after getting up to find the stream had risen 3metres in the night and burst it banks, blankiting every bit of flat pasture under a good few feet of water. I spent the early par of the morning making sure all assorted animals are away from the danger, i now have nothing to do, but sit inside and wait it out, until the flood waters go down again, this give me the perfect opportunity to catch up on everything so here we go....

I have learned many things since starting the wild horse project, in May last year. Some things,just from observing and comparing horses, from the wild ones, to the ones we raise. Lots of ideas and theories i had about horses, have become more established, and i have been reminded of lots of things that had slipped to the back of my mind after working in solely with show horses for the last few years.

The biggest lesson, Horses are only as wild as you make them. I already kind of thought this but working with my three wild horses, just confirmed it. They are not born crazy, and given the chance they are pretty stoic animals, not as prone to flight as we think they are. We determine how settled they become in life due to the kind of handling, and the amount of time put into them. True of either horse born wild or in domestication. But really, nothing seems to upset the wild horses to much, they just take life as it is and don't get to phased by it.
You can feed a wild horse half as much, and it will grow twice as fat as one of my precious sport horses. Some of this isn't just their great metabolism, but behavioural as well. The ones from the wild see eating as survival and are very focused about it. The sport horses see it as something to do for entertainment and pick and fuss, or stand at the gates wasting hours of grazing time waiting to come in to the barn.
Wild horses are HAPPY, once domesticated. Mine give no signs of longing to be free in the mountains again, and seem totally settled in domestic bliss. Given the chance I'm sure they would lock themselves in the stable with a pile of hay and never come out.
Domestic horses are a lot more prone to flight than wild horses. All my 'wilds' if spooked stop and stare and then just carry on with what they are doing. Some of the sport horses, whirl, and bolt before they even seen a thing. this can be in the paddock or ridden. Also while the domestic ones gallop headlong, excuberantly down the hill to be caught, the wild ones have always calmy picked their way down, even though they are the ones born runing on mountains.
The biggest thing that surprised me though was the Independence that the wild horses showed. We think of herd animals as being together constantly, and unwilling to act alone. To this day, if the wild mare doesn't agree with what the herd is doing, she just takes herself off and does her own thing, completely out of sight of the herd if need be.Today is a classic example, the herd of mares is grazing where i can see them, totally exposed in the pouring rain, shivering and cold. The wild mare cant be seen, but i know is on the next hill over, tucked way back into the forest, where shes dry and warm, a looking out over the other idiot equines standing in the rain.
they develop a lot faster and studier, than our purpose bred sport horses. Sonny the wild yearling looks like a fully grown little stallion in miniature, strong sturdy, glossy coat, and a good covering of fat and muscle. he looks like he could survive anything and behaves more like an adult horse than a you would expect. The purpose bred sport horses on the other hand, long, lanky, impossible to keep weight on, with no muscling, they are still very much babies mentally, apart from the colts keen desire to breed with anything, he is nowhere near as developed as Sonny. This makes sense if they were in the wild, the quicker they develop the better their chance for survival
Going slowly as far as training, does not make it easier for the horse. Going to fast and putting to much pressure on them doesn't help either. But the people who take months and months, to get to where they can handle a horse, i think, only prolong the amount of time the horses spends scared of you. If you can get to where they can be haltered and handled relatively quickly, i think its better for the horse as they learn you mean no harm and can relax in their new environment.

These are just my opinions though, some people may have different experiences or not agree with me. That's okay to, every ones entitled to their own ideas. I'm also sure i have forgotten to put down about half the things i meant to, but as soon as i sit down and stare at a computer screen my mind seem to come up blank and i forget all i meant to write about...

2011-12-03T21:33:00.005+13:00

Images from Egypt......can you see why i might want to go?

this horse had cloth tied through it flesh for 'good health'....

these ones are simply starving to death with only sand to eat...One thing is for sure im going to see things over there, worse than anything iever seen or dealt with before, it will be educational at the very least

So this is what i have to look forward to when i travel over in march. I'm sure these images make your gut twist just as much as mine. How could this happen, how could people do this or tolerate it? makes you pretty sick to think about...

But then its amazing what you become immune to, or what you think is normal when its all you know. I'm sure their are some bastards over their, that are rotten to the core, and knowingly abuse their animals, working them for all they are worth, literally until they drop dead. but I'm also equally sure, that some just don't know any better and are just carrying on practices that there ancestors were doing back in the stone ages.

We, and i mean anyone, anywhere, are all guilty of becoming to familiarized or used, to certain things and just accepting them as normal. just for an example, horses in New Zealand, live out in pasture mostly, and generally are pretty healthy animals, with good wide hooves and are pretty co-ordinated creatures. This is what I'm used to, its normal for me, to expect any horse i get on to be able to walk up and down a hill. The look of a long lean thouroughbred, or eventing type, is also the kind of horse im used to seeing.

But when Ive traveled, i have found this is far from the norm in other places. In America, i went to a stable, where every second horse was obese and had at some stage, had major colic surgery, navicular and ringbone were pretty rife too, everyone their thought this was totally normal, as they did the tiny pinched hooves and the fact that their horses couldnt walk down the slightest slope without tripping over. this was just how horses were, or so they thought. Everyone had just become so familiarised they started thinking this was normal. By the way, not a attack at american barns at all, because i know there are some great ones to!

Who's to know its not a similar situation in Egypt, you may just never realise their is another way of caring for horses, and that jutting hip bones and gaping sores are not just the norm. who's to say until you have been there. But i think this is why education is so important, and that is part of what the people on this trip hope to achieve, re-educating locals into better practices and care of their animals.

But don't get me wrong, in no way am i justifying what they do. Its horrible, but you cant just tell people their wrong, you have to show them and give them a reason to do it differently.

Well today a friend and i raised $223 to go towards, educating people, and taking medical gear over to look after the horses. What was amazing is how many donated more than required to buy the fundraising raffle ticket. Was really great to see, and most people were genuinely interested and asked what they could do to help. So thank you to all those who brought a ticket and donated, hopefully your money will to making a real differance to the lives of the horses, donkeys and camels over there

I know a lot of readers here will want to help to, at the moment there are lots of ways you can contribute. We need, horse wormers, tick tags, vet wrap, gamgee, wound dressings, non-stick wound pads, flea spray, and lice powders. But also things you might have lying around your tack room unused, such as halters and leads, snaflle bits, foam saddle blankets, plastic bridles, even dog collars and leads are needed. If your handy with a sewing machine, making synthetic sheepskin covers for noseband and gith sleeves, would be fantastic, to hlep protect horses from traditioanl chain nosebands and rough girths. As always money can be donated and will appreciated too!

If you can help and want more imformation please contact me by email chloesponys@hotmail.com

Kaimanawa to Cairo

2011-12-01T13:03:00.002+13:00

I'm feeling a but frustrated, with the weekends of competitions and week of manically trying to keep up with all the work on the farm and with the horses.Don't get me wrong, i love competing, horse shows are a huge part of my life and keep me on my toes and striving to succeed. But you can, at times, get jaded with the whole scene, the money, the time involved, the travel,and the fact that your whole life revolves around a how well a horse can go in different circles and jump without knocking a rail down. Sometimes you do find yourself thinking, "is this all my life is about". Recently i have felt i need for something else in my life, a holiday, a new project, something to re-inspire me. The last time i felt this way i adopted wild horses and started this blog. So what next???

Most people when they need a break, or R&R, pick a nice holiday destination where they can lie on the beach, relax and unwind and think about things.Not me. I'm going to a war zone, to work my ass off, to live in less than great conditions, in the heat, in a country that is predominantly Muslim. and where animals welfare is not high on the list of most people's priorities. Egypt. With Libya on it left, sitting below Israel, Jordon and Palestine, above Sudan and a hop,skip and a jump from Iraq and Afghanistan.That's right, to a country in the middle of a political upheaval, that according to my government is a 'high risk' travel destination, in the middle of a part of the world that is presently rife, with war, terrorism, protesters, suicide bombers, dictatorships and countries that don't allow women any freedom. Sounds great right? Dangerous, hot, hard work and where women are not well respected. What better place to go, for a young girl from New Zealand.

So why go? Why the risk, to a place i wont even be able to kick back and relax? This wont be a holiday, but it will be an experience, because im going to set up street clinics, for starving neglected, abused and wounded horses, camels and donkeys. I'm going to Egypt, because i feel i would actually be able to put some of my skills to something more useful than, preparing a horse for shows. The is a chance to maybe work at Giza Zoo, get some hands on experience with camels, save some horses and donkeys, and be doing all this within a stones throw from the great pyramids. Was to good an opportunity to pass by.

Sometimes in the western world we forget how lucky we are, were educated have great resources at our disposle, unlimited access to knowledge via the Internet. We don't go hungry, mostly our governments run smoothly, and in New Zealand at least we have a green, pristine and beautiful environment. What happens if you live in a desert, and the tourist money you rely on runs dry? Its not even like you can turn your animals loose to find grass, your surrounded by rock and sand. No money, first your animals go hungry and then you and your family. What happens if your brought up without knowledge of modern animals care, what if you practice old beliefs, like piercing an animals flesh and tying bits of string, wire and cloth through their flesh, to promote better health, but instead leave the animals with open rotting sores. Can we sitting at home really judge people?

Im sure not all of it is ignorance but i will hold my judgment until i see condition for myself. The pictures are however horrific. Horses like walking skeletons. Animals with open putrid wounds almost to the bone, from being ridden with ill fitting saddles by tourists to see the pyramids, or sores from chains rubbing across their faces and legs. The photos paint a very grim picture. This wont be for the faint hearted. It will be heart wrenching and hard, but i think worth it.

So when i saw a team of Kiwi's were going, including a horse dentist and vets, i thought that this would be my chance to make a bit of a difference, help out, not just talk about how horrible it is, but go and do something about it.

I'm no delicate flower, not afraid to get my hands dirty,i can deal with injuries, i worked with starved abused and injured horses in the past. I can bandage, dress wounds, trim hooves and deal with unruly animals. I can provide a lot of the grunt work need on this kind of trip.people have told me they couldn't cope seeing this kind of thing, it would be to upsetting.but i just want to get stuck in and help out, i figure anything i can do will help improve theses horses lives, and it worth dealing with everything else.

So i got in contact and signed up for the trip, it was a spur of the moment decision and i don't regret it, March next year i will be ,bandaging, feeding holding and looking after horses in Egypt. The worst part i think will be starting the huge amount of vaccinations i need for the trip, including rabies, which i start next week. I'm excited, i feel inspired again and bursting with passion and enthusiasm. I feel much better to have something to be working towards again. I know its a risk, but one I'm willing to take, and well, if i get kidnapped over there and sold for camels to be part of some sheik's harem, we will all know it was a mistake, but you don't know until you try.

behind the scenes

2011-11-23T21:33:00.005+13:00

Just a couple more images from equidays, Matai and Eliza, as well as other wild horses and their handlers...

Behind every organisation is a couple of hardworking people who keeps everything ticking over. Every soccer club, dance recital, horse show, school reunion, charity organsition has a handful of core people, that makes these things work. These people who put the hard work in year after year, so that these events and clubs happen, they usally do the bulk of the work, for none of the glory, fitting it in without complaint around their day to day live.

The Kaimanawa Heritage Horses, seems to also have this core group of hardworking volunteers that not only look out for the horses but run, shows, demonstrations, a breed registry, a adoption and fostering scheme, publish a magazine, and continue to promote these amazing horses. It is these people who i have all my dealings with, and have made the overall experiance of having a wild horse so enjoyable. They have taken good care of me, and always made me feel part of the Kaimanawa family, everytime ive gotten to meet them at shows and events. Even going as far as putting me and matai up for the night when we came to the Kai show in february. They are all great people with big hearts and deserve mention for all the good work they do.

So Marilyn, Elder, who are just great people, and obviously so passionate about the horses. Tania for helping Matai, me and Eliza all participate in Equidays. Christine and her family for letting me stay back in february, and all the other great people who keep this organisation going. Thanks for all that you do, your work is appreciated!

Good hoses are made not born...

2011-11-19T21:27:00.004+13:00

What we started with......

and today......

Big screen in the back ground, the wild stallion and his new owner, a little scared but held it together!

In the demonstration arena settling down

Matai and his new owner warming up. Looking pretty flash

I just want people to know that good horses are not born, they are made. Some horses are born more trainable, more athletic, with better movement, better conformation, more intelligent, what effects how they turn out in life, how far they go, is the training and time put into them.

Behind every good horse is someone who at some stage put hours, months even years of training into them. At some stage in every successful horses life someone took the time to put in, the everyday foundation in training that would shape their future.

People spend their whole life tyring to find that perfect horse, maybe just a calm horse to ride on a trail, or something they think will carry them to a gold medal, while other people just create the perfect horse for them selves.

Without going on an on, that little unremarkable scrawny bay pony in the top photos didn't just become the flashy little bay horse that could perform in front of crowds, tv screens, in a windy outdoor arena like he did today.

People put a lot of work into him, training what he already had,and turning it into something special. First me with months of training to bring him from wild horse to domestic horse, and now with is new owner, taking him from green little pony into a horse that will one day have a future in a dressage ring.

Matai had his four minutes of fame today. Going into a big outdoor arena surrounded by grandstands, loudspeakers, flapping flags, we had to push through crowds of people, and past a tantrum throwing miniature stallion, horse and carts, just to make it to the arena, but we did. Matai bless his sole, was scared, and so was his rider, he saw him self on the giant screen and almost jumped out of his skin, yet he listened came back to his rider and settled down to his work, showing moments of brilliance. In another year it will not be moments of brilliance but a consolidated performance. It wont be magic it will be because someone put the work into him..

Congrats to all the wild horses who did a fantastic job of promoting the breed. Well done to Eliza and Matai for being brave enough to put themselves in the limelight!

Matais back.

2011-11-17T21:51:00.005+13:00

I have my wild stallion back! well sought of.....

Matai came to stay the night at my place last night in preparation as i was to take him and my big jumping horse down the line to stay with my old boss and trainer, first thign in the morning. Matais new owner was to meet me down here. It was like my little wild boy had never left, he remembered his old freinds, and the wild weanling was delighted to see him again, screaming his greetings from the paddock. Matai just trotted into his old stable like hed never left, and it was great to see his familiar face greeting me from over the stall door, when i arived at the barn this morning.

So this morning i set off giant jumping horse and little wild horse squeezed into my trailer and off we went. Six hours later and we finally arrived in the waikato region, both boys traveled beautifully , the only casualty being a bay of hay i placed within reach of two hungry mouths that got completely eaten, i didn't know so much hay could be consumed in such a short space of time. Little Matai's stomach was bulging at the seams when i finally off loaded him. The wild horses view to eating defiantly being, waste not,want not, as they have known true hunger in the wild.

Anyway my old trainer loved Matai straight away, and as usual no one could believe he was once a stallion form the wild. I look forward to watching him and his new owner getting a lesson tomorrow, as hes starting to look quite the little dressage star. Then its off to be parting of the big equestrian extravaganza, that is equidays, and Matai's going to be part of it, his turn to really shine in the limelight!!

Just for laughs

2011-11-10T21:37:00.002+13:00

I found this while scrolling through a horse selling website, and it made me laugh......

Miniature Horse

I am selling on behalf of my wife who has just come into the house and said she was up all night, in the rain, trying to catch this "real s#!t of a horse". I asked her if I could put him on Trade me and she said "yes, he's a s#!t and I can sell him!!!" (so angry and frustrated).....so I said, "OK, yeah I will!"...So hear we go.

The horse is 8 hands and she brought him off the intranet at work. Don't know too much more as I'm not a horsey person, but can tell you that it is bronze, white and quite small, like a small version of a horse. From what I've seen it's pretty good with my 4 and 2 year old but doesn't seem to like males very much, as it runs away from me and tends to throw my son around a get bit..... So, a good horse for the females of the family! Selling cheep, as want to take full advantage of my wife's utter frustration towards it and my utter desire to get rid of it.

The only completly honest horse add i have ever seen, and shows that horses are horses no matter what size they come in, and are not for people who want something more like a family pet. Unfortunatly minture horses sometimes end up in the worst suitable homes because they are so small anynody buys them without realising you still need to know what your doing....probably like the people with the horse horse in this add....still its a good laugh, love the fact that he described it as bronze and quite small. comedy gold.

surpassing expectations

2011-11-01T12:37:00.004+13:00

I have been slowly falling behind on the story of the grey mare from the wild. Mainly i have written about Matai and his adventures, every so often dropping in details about the mare, and pictures here and there. But I have left out a lot of details, of what been going on behind the scenes. Its not just sneaky escapades to the local rugby fields, or day trips to the beach that have been taking up my time, horse riding is not that glamorous unfortunately.

Behind these outing have been the day to day slog of training horses, the mundane boring stuff. Teaching a horse to turn, stop, and go when asked, all these basics that when done right create the final product of an overall happy horse. But first is the hours of the baby steps where the horse learns the ABC's of being a ridden horse, much like a child learns the alphabet before they can read their first word. Because for those who maybe didn't realise, no horse and certainly not a horse from the wild is born knowing, what on earth a human wants when we sit on its back, its not instinctive to them unfortunately.

the first time you sit on a horse, it has no idea that squeezing with your legs mean go forward, pulling its head mean turn, and pulling back is the command to stop. Why would it, its not exactly logical, is it? Put yourself in a horse position, suddenly you have all this weight on your back and some creature squeezing you around the middle, would you really have a clue what was wanted, i doubt that the first thing that popped into your mind would be "oh of course i get it, i meant to walk forward when i feel annoying pressure squeezing my rib cage"...nope they don't have a clue, for all they know you might want them to walk forwards when you pull their mouth and stop when you squeeze their sides. In fact you could use any aid you wanted for any desired response and a horse would learn it if your consistent enough. consistency and timing...

These are the only two real ingredients to training horses, especially in those first early break in days, when i horse acts like a sponge soaking up everything you teach it unintentionally or otherwise. So the last few weeks for the wild mare have just been boring consistency and rewards and asking things of her at the right time. you just keep asking the same thing the same way until you get the right response and then reward, and you do this hundreds of times, until the horse just knows and reacts straight away. then bada bing, bada booom, and magically one day you realise you have a horse, that at the lightest touch trots off from the leg, slows down when you change your seat slightly, and turns to the lightest touch on the reins.

So the wild mare has been going through this process, and to be honest she has surpassed all my expectations, just like people some horses have different aptitudes for different things, some are more intelligent and some are more sensitive. Of all the horse i have broken in Fern the little wild mare, has surprised me the most.

Fern has never been difficult, but until she started being ridden she radiated a slight air of suspicion, always doing what was asked but not completely happy with the situation. She always came across as a bit withdrawn, she took her time to asses things before reacting, and would often take a fair bit of encouragement to get good work out of her. She also never really seemed to grasp the concept that other people were trustworthy, she was fine with me, and got to know the boyfriend and a few other regular farm visitors, but would eyeball any people she didn't recognise and back as far away as her lead rope would allow. The opposite of the wild stallion, who within a short while loved all people, was not suspicious in the least and loved to work. Ferns love was her baby and food and the rest she tolerated.

Not anymore. For whatever reason it is, that little wild horse dropped all barriers once she had a rider on her back, maybe it just finally allowed her to drop all that suspicion she was carrying around, but whatever the reason she relaxed completely both physically and mentally. her neck dropped her back relaxed and she got this lovely soft but alert look in her eye. It took one lesson for her to learn what go forward meant and she naturally just picked up the cue to slow, and from then we have never looked back. Where i thought she was going to be a bit dull and resistant she has become one of the most sensitive and willing horses ever. She surpassed even the little stallion in willingness and progress. instead of being lazy she loved to work happily trotting and cantering right on cue within days. where Matai was chilled out and happy to go with the flow, she was alert and ready for action, just the kind of horse i love to ride, sharp and sensible.

Funnily enough all others issues she had just fell away after that. When i took her to the beach, everyone came up and patted her all over, some thing that would have sent hers eyes rolling and as far away as she could get a few weeks ago, but instead she happily stood there quietly excepting everything no matter how many people surrounded her. I guess all those defense barriers she had are now well in truly gone. The trip to the rugby fields, you would never know she hadn't been there a hundred times, she just quietly grazed under the goal posts, nowadays she just accepts everything as if it just another day at the office.

All of a sudden now that all the tedious basics are done the future for the wild mare is looking very exciting indeed. i think she may even have to start her competition career in the not to distant future ( opening a whole different can of worms entirely). Funny how life is, i was sure she would be the one i sold and the stallion i would keep for myself, but it ended up the other way and far better for it because Fern has turned out to be just the kind of horse i love.

2011-10-22T21:08:00.004+13:00

Our boys, congratulations the All Blacks!!

And this is my version........

For those of you who might not know the Rugby World Cup was just held in New Zealand. We are a rugby nation, the All Blacks, our national team, and now our national hero's. That's right people, we won the rugby world cup, the first time since 1987, when we won the first world cup ever held.

I have never seen such a happy country, the whole 6 weeks of the Cup, we all came together dressed in black, decorated our towns, sung our national anthem in the streets, and became 4 million patriotic kiwis supporting our boys on the field. As a country we all came together and our lives and mood depended on the fifteen boys in black uniforms smashing the other nations on the field of play. We screamed as they did their pre-match haka (moari war dance), cheered as they scored a try, moaned if they missed a conversion, winced if a player got hurt, and for the finals game, i think we all felt absolutely sick to the stomach, prayed to our god, and felt like crying until the final whistle blew, and we knew that our boys would be holding up the sacred trophy. It was an awesome couple of weeks

In case you haven't guessed I am a HUGE rugby fan, huge. To show my support, i took the wild horse on a little adventure to our local rugby fields....

I went all out i dressed my wild horse up, got a friend to meet me their, put supporters flags on my saddle blanket. I spent actual money and got my self an official supporters shirt.....My wild horse became my rugby horse... which is kind cool because Fern or CS Silver Fern, which is her official name, well she is named after the symbol of our national sporting teams, the Silver Fern. Every kiwi with sporting aspirations dreams of putting on the black uniform with the silver fern on it.

Well, i don't have the black uniform with the silver fern. But i put on a black uniform, dressed my horse up in black, down to taping the white on black stripes on her legs and rode silver fern to support my team.

GO THE MIGHTY ALL BLACKS!!!!!

2011-10-20T20:11:00.003+13:00

Okay so its late at night and i dont have time to upload all the photos, but Fern and I had a wonderful day at the beach . No one could beleive that she had only been ridden a couple of weeks, because she behave impecably, walking calmly withinj the group. Even crashing waves wernt to scary. To be honest though, i think most horses will behave calmly given the chance. Nevertheless both Fern and Matai were a big success with many people coming over to sat hi, once they realised once they realised these were ex-wild horses.

Discovering a sandcastle.

Matai and his new owner

My eve veiw of the ride

We've come a long way baby

2011-10-18T19:49:00.004+13:00

leaving the stock yards for the first time, then months later days before she foaled, Fern the wild mare

These are old photos....hopefully twenty four hours from now i will have uploaded some new pics,because Fern, the wild mare will be doing her first public outing, under saddle, on an organised beach ride for Kaimanawa wild horses. I'm excited, the grey horse is going so well under saddle, and i love beach rides, double bonus. Not only that but Matai and his new owner will be there to, and i cant wait to see him again because...

... i may have some exciting news.....i have been talking to some people with the Kaimanawa wild horse preservation society, and it seems that a plan is in the pipeline for my little grey mare from the wild to be a demo horse, not only that but Matai and his new owner,i think are going to be included as well.

In mid November New Zealand is having its first ever Equidays, which is basically going to be a festival of all things equestrian. Training seminars, nutrition and breeding lectures, riding clinics and heaps of horse demonstrations and performances. So when i saw a notice in the Kaimanawa newsletter, asking for people interested in bringing their Kaimanawa horses down to do demonstrations, i of course applied. Later in the week, i talked to Matai's owner while out on a ride together, and she was keen to. That night i asked my old boss and trainer, if he would mind me and the wild ponies coming down to stay with him and train,before the big event, and he liked the idea to.

Matai's owner and i have been excitedly talking and making plans non stop ever since. Matai is looking every inch the little dressage super pony these days and Fern is going fantastic under saddle, even popping over some small jumps. I think these two horses, who are completely different examples of the wild horse breed, but both schooled and performing just like any well trained English riding horses, will hopefully show people how fantastic and valuable our wild horses can be.

Now i just have to come up with some cool tricks , for her big demo, because lets face walk trot and cantering in a circle on the bit, is a bit boring. To ride she is a completely different horse, shes sensitive, forward moving and relaxed, quick and eager to learn and gorgeous. under saddle she just has that little bit extra, that you don't see when shes just tied up or out in the paddock. I love riding her and just am so impressed with her general attitude, i cant believe this is the same horse, im sure we can come up with something special for the show.

Man, thinking back over the last year and a half its just flown by, everything has happened so fast, you would never pick that either Matai or Fern had ever run wild, every time i sit in the saddle i think "we've come a long way baby" but we still have a long way to go. Watch this space

.

Horsmanship?

2011-10-01T19:21:00.004+13:00

I have just plonked down at my desk, still in my riding gear, after one of those days where you work so hard, your feet ache, your muscles hurt and your dogged tired, but it feels good because you know you got heaps of done, and for once everything went your way. The horses all behaved and performed well today. The wild mare was excellent to ride,even going for a walk down the road, the other break in's all behaved and my performance horses all co-operated, its a nice feeling because , i managed to get every horse that need it, ridden. Now with the left over buzz of energy from a successful day, I'm going to ignore the cat clamoring for attention on my lap and type down somethings that been on my mind for a while.

What is horsemanship, or rather what do you say is good horsemanship? how do you define it? If you envisioned a horse trainer what qualities would they posses? I'm in a dilemma which i cant totally explain in this post, but i will try to in time. but back to horsemanship what is it? Is it that rider who has elusive 'feel' for every horse they ride, the rider that can see a stride for a jump no matter how far away they are, the trainer that can produce a happy obedient horse, or the rider who really has that pizazz in the show ring and squeeze every ounce out of a horse in competition, is it the ride who has the best cared for horse. Because a lot of people have differing opinions when it comes to what is good horsemanship.

There are some horse care practices that i look upon as torture and other people see as a sign of a competent horse person. I don't really who right or wrong. I look at some people at shows who horses are immaculately groomed, to the point where they wear 6 rugs, hoods, bandages, tail bags and there bodies only feel the sun when they are ridden. They have to be stabled and wrapped in cotton wool at all times, separated from other horses, because god forbid they get a scratch on them. To me this is lack of horsemanship , not a sign of it. Because the horse loses every horse sense it has, no socialising, rolling in the dirt, grazing everything that makes it horsey. But i hear again and again "o so & so is such a good horsewoman look how well presented her horses are"....and i think to myself surely this is just a sign of good grooming not horsemanship.. but i could be wrong, and this is just an example.

My old boss, a dressage trainer, who i have huge respect for, he was a good horseman, in the saddle. He felt that every horse could and should be improved through training. He was not snobby, or particular about the horses he rode he just tried to improve the way of going of every horse he sat on. The horses were happy to work for him, and were beautiful soft and elastic feeling to ride. Yet when it came to things like presentation, he was not the most perfect example of it. He didn't like tidy pulled or plaited tails, and he always looked slight rough around the edges, but i don't think this made him a bad horsemen at all. he also taught me a lot about horse fitness and conditioning, and i had huge respect in him for that. he made sure his horse got galloped and forest rides each week, not just drilled routines in an arena. They were all happy fit and healthy horses. However while he was an amazing rider, his horses lacked even some most basic ground manners that would have made life a lot easier, yet in the saddle that man was amazing.

Then there is the horsemen who take obsessive care of their horses. the horses are not allowed to trot down hills, to hard on the joints. the legs are bandaged with pedantic care, the Velcro must always finish in a exact spot. you can only use certain brushes, and tails are never brushed but separated hair by hair with you hands. You must never ride on hard ground, nor ground that is to deep or muddy. instead of a bit of hay, hard feed and good grass, nutrition is forefront in these horses training, everything from a good top line, and behaviour issues can be fixed with the right food.Each horse must do a certain and exact amount of competition before moving up a level, or competing at nationals. Their is a set routine that is never changes no matter the horse. The horses comfort and well being is paramount to everything, even manners and schooling

But then there is another kind of horsemanship and this is what i picture when i think of the word. One of my biggest mentors and someone who has influenced my entire career, is an old cowboy type, nothing like the dramatic show queens, dressage masters, or pedantic jump trainers. He taught me that every horse can be well behaved, and safe to handle, they can all be responsive and fancy bits are not required. from this guy i learned how to read a horses behaviour, teach ground manners, correct behaviour problems, and break in and deal with any kind of horse. He knew more about a horses psychology than anyone else Ive ever come across, he understood how horses learned, reacted, and how much you could ask from any animal at a time. This guy knew how to teach all the fancy 'show tricks' like getting a horse to lie down, play dead etc etc. But his real talent was that he had an amazing 'feel' for every horse and he showed that every horse could and should be sensitive, calm and well behaved, and safe to handle. Nutrition, fitness and presentation however were not in his familair repertoire.

My last thought, is that competition results are not always the best indicator of horsemanship. i know plenty of fantastic trainers and riders, that for some reason cannot get it together and perform in the ring. They don't enjoy the pressure, they get to worried about how the horse is feeling, what ever it is, that amazing training just doesn't show through when it counts. There are also riders who have the amazing ability to shine in competition. They can jump on a horse they never ridden before and win the class. They may never have the patience to train a horse themselves, but they can perform under pressure when it counts and get the most out of the horse they are sitting on. This is a skill in itself. I'm not sure if one type of rider is better than the other, just different.

I don't think there is one type of horsemanship either. unfortunately i never found anyone who covers all aspects, the nutritional, and physical health, the behaviour, the training and the presentation. Usually its a beautifully presented horse trampling their rider into the ground or a scruffy looking horse happily behaving beautifully. some riders cant bear to push their horse that extra 10% to produce a wining performance and some cant be bothered to train a horse at all. Some people spend so much time worrying about unsoundness they don't let it do anything, and others don't do enough and pay the price. Who knows who right and wrong, who is the better horseman and who isn't?

What is your opinion what quality makes a good horsemen or woman?

2011-09-21T20:25:00.002+12:00

Today is a good day. I'm excited, spring is in the air and it feels great. the grass is growing, the horses are all running madly and bucking across the paddock, shedding their winter hair and starting to get that sleek glossy look about them. Spring also mean horse dentist time. which also meant that today i saw Matai, my old wild stallion.

It was horse dentist day at the local pony club. So i loaded up the two of my horses that needed their teeth done the most, a black and white midget and a ex racehorse and headed over. I knew Matai's new owner was going to be there with him and her daughters midget pony, so it was a good chance to catch up, gossip about horses and of course see my beloved Matai. But also i was quite fascinated to see what the dentist had to say about Matai's magical teeth, that had never been tampered with, and were the genuine wild horse teeth that he was born with.

For those who weren't followers back then, i will summarize the magical teeth story. Matai arrived a year and a half ago, a scrawny under-developed little bag of bones, straight off the muster truck. When i first got the chance to look in his mouth, his teeth showed him to be around 2 1/2-3yrs. well that was OK, he was young he needed time to develop. But then towards the beginning of summer he was no longer looking like a 2-or 3yr old, he looked like a fully mature horse, so i peeked in his mouth again, and what did i see? not the mouth of a baby horse that was for sure. Low in behold he had all his big kid teeth, making him look like he was about 4yrs old. he aged 2 years in 6 months....so much for teeth accurately telling a horses age. although I'd say that malnutrition played a big part with Matai, as when he was getting adequate food his teeth caught up with his actual age.

So where are we today? well after a lovely ride, me on a crazy thoroughbred i ride for a client, and Matai with his new rider. In which the ex-wild stallion looked gorgeous, with his newly pulled mane and his legs wrapped in new white boots, he looked every inch a little dressage pony super star ( i cant wait to get some photos). The dentist finally got around to doing Matai's mouth. Both me and the new owner, waited for his verdict? how old did a qualified dentist think the wild pony was? well after a poke, a prod, and a arm elbow deep in Matai's mouth, the verdict was, five. Spot on i reckon, for what he looks like developmentally and about on track from when i last looked in his mouth. Good to know also, that he hasn't continued to age at the rapid rate of two years every 6 months.

Matai teeth were pretty good, except for his two wolf teeth that were not only huge but growing sideways into his mouth. So according to the vet who pulled his balls out, and the dentist who pulled his teeth out. Matai has 'big, tough, wild horse teeth and testicles that just don't want to be detached' those big teeth took a lot of tugging but did eventually pop right out, his new owner kept them as souvenirs. The little wild horse stood quietly through the whole thing, quieter than the pony who reared, ran backwards and basically had a full mini mare meltdown. Love the fact that a horse from the wild is quieter than the school pony that kids learn to ride on.

Anyway it was great to see Matai, he looked so happy and healthy, his owner is obviously besotted with him. it was interesting to know more about his teeth. But even more excitedly, his new owner and i have a plan, we have been talking up a storm and may have some exciting news for the future...watch this space...

Why did i want wild horses again??

2011-09-16T20:04:00.002+12:00

I wanted wild horses for a reason, I'm sure i did. I just cant remember at the moment, why? I have after all gone against my own better judgment, and purchased four non-wild, but pretty feral ponies, and taken on, 3 ex racehorses, and two other, excuse my french 'f*cked up' problem horses to re-educate in the last 6 weeks. So why on earth did i think last year it was good idea to get wild horses, when i could buy 'pretty coloured' feral, for $250 and make a healthy profit on, once broken in and schooled, or actually get paid to ride ex-racers and problem horses? Im struggling to remember..

O that's right now i remember, because all of these horses come with baggage, the amount and intensity of baggae may differ, but all of them are carrying it never the less. While all of the above horses, come with attitude, behaviour problems, are naughty, panic, kick, bolt, rear, buck, are anti social and have no sense of self preservation. The wild horses just came with worms and lice, which all of the above horses seem to come with as well anyway. The very reason i wanted wild horses to begin with was because they were a clean slate, a blank canvas, they were just horses.

They were not some one's or syndicates, spoilt million dollar racehorse that wasn't fast enough and could only run around in a circle, that was looking for a new career because it had already failed at its first one. That came with a with a iron mouth, no slef preservation and a pretty good panic button to boot.

They were not some backyards breeders money making scam to breed "pretty coloured' ponies, that while a fashionable colour had every confirmation fault under the sun. Who had been dumped, when the couple divorced, had been half broken in, before the divorce, before the wife lost interest, before it was realised that working with cute ponies was not butterflies and daises, but after they had learned to kick, to pull away, to shoulder charge and to bite when asked to do something.

The wild horses were not, prone to to wild fits of behaviour when being ridden, they did not hate there work so much they would do anything to get out of it. They were not pressure cooked, by to many expectations to young, and they were not cocky from not enough work to late. they were not sour, and they were not arrogant. they didn't attack other horses in the same paddock with them, and they did not endlessly pace fences until they were skin and bone.

the wild horses just behave like horses. In the last few weeks i have had to deal with every range of man made problems relating to equines. i have as you know been kicked, but also barged, bolted on, nipped at, ears pinned back at me. I have spent hours teaching them that i am in fact boss horse, and they do need some ground manners, and that work doesn't mean punishment, that tthere are other speeds beside flat tack, that they don't need to lean on bit and can in fact carry there own heads. but none of this i have ever had to teach to the wild horses.

Fern got ridden today, you know hard that was...not hard at all. Do you know why it wasn't hard, because she just behaved as she should.I put the saddle on, did some groundwork , got her happily walk, trot and cantering, and then had my assistant climb into the saddle. We lunged her in circles, the assistant could lean over rub her on the rump, on the neck, wave her legs around and the wild grey mare just kept happily doing her job as she should. She handles all these things because she never learnt that she shouldn't. Shes always been happy to work, because work has never been bad. There are rules to our relationship, no pushing, shoving, or misbehaving she knows the rules and happily follows, and the rules having been in place since they very first day of her arrival.

Horses just behave like horses, until we teach them otherwise. I cant stress this enough, like every other creature that is capable of learning, horses only learn what we teach them. By never setting boundaries, by creating bad experiences, or good ones, by asking to much or to little, by thinking something is cute until when its a wee little foal, but not so cute when its a fully grown 500kg animal. These are the things that determine the good horses from the bad ones, the crazy from the sane and the horses that live to a ripe old age and those that end up on a meat works truck.

I got wild horses because wild horses are easiest of all! I wish i had never forgotten. I wish other people would realise that training horses is not rocket science and not whispering and unconditional. I wish that people would realise all horses can be good horses until you teach them otherwise. Wild horses are just horses without other issues, its the domestic ones that are the wildest of all.

then and now

2011-09-12T18:53:00.002+12:00

Where has time gone? Ten years ago my mother woke me up and told me World War III might be starting, i will remember that day the rest of my life, watching the Twin towers fall to the ground. As a proud New Zealander, that was born in America, and holds an American passport, i was horrified that my birth country was being attacked. Five years later and i had finished school and was about to start my equestrian career, the world was also a slightly different place. we knew about terrorism, and there was now polarized opinions in my quiet little country about America and the middle east. Two years ago, i was riding in Germany, the horse riding equivalent of going to university, and about as opposite as you can get from the way we do things here. Fast forward even more and a year and a half ago, two little scraggly wild ponies arrived and another journey started. So where are we today??

Its a recession, horses are not selling, and the equine industry is struggling, yet i am busier than i ever have been, I'm turning down horses to ride, working harder than ever, more horses than ever, and the horse i wasn't planing to sell, has sold on gone on to be the most fantastic of all. Matai the ex wild stallion, is doing fantastically in his new home. I keep getting regular updates, She has been riding everywhere, leading her daughters pony off him, and has enjoyed him more than any other horse she has ever owned! I have seen photos of him on her Facebook page, hes gleaming with a beautiful pulled mane and looking stunning, obviously thriving in his new environment. From the wild, to my house, and now on to be the perfect family pony, he takes everything in his stride.

The wild mare, is finally getting some work. Today, i got around to putting a saddle on and riding her for the first time. She too took it all in her stride, no bucking, bolting or broncing. I have free jumped her over winter, and with that big butt of hers and snappy jumping style she looks well on her way to becoming a super little jumping horse. Bring on the jumping season, cannot wait for the comments when i arrive with my 17hh warmblood and my 15hh wild horse.

Sonny, the shy little foal born last spring, i now a strapping young man. He has been weaned, and went to live with Matai. When Matai sold, it was like weaning all over again, he cried for days for the wild stallion that looked after him, that shared a stable together at night and even ate out of the same bowl. Yet now he has taken over the roll of caregiver. Two weeks ago, i picked up an 11hh pinto mare with her four month old foal that was already bigger than her. there were a million things wrong with the situation i got these horses from, but that is another story. The foal badly needed some extra nutrition, that she couldn't get from her mother, she also needed a slightly better role model. So now Sonny is her special friend, as the stallion cared for him he now looks after this pint sized fluff ball, teaching her that humans are friends, hanging out with her in the paddock, and at night the stable he used to share with Matai, he now shares with the foal. When i snuck up to check on them the first night, i found Sonny lying in the hay, with the tiny foal curled between his legs fast asleep. I Don't think i have ever seen anything so sweet, this in horses is a rare and special sight.

You never know where you will be in the future, how the world will change, what forks in the road you will follow, what you will learn on the journey. I know with horses i have had my share of highs and lows, bumps in the road and educational experiences. I look back at 10 years to the day that really did change the world, and cant believe where i am now. I look back at the scrawny horses that arrived in 2010 and cant believe where they gone, how much they have changed, all i have learned and all i keep learning.

how is sucees measured?

2011-09-05T18:24:00.004+12:00

How do we measure success? Is it how much money you make, the car you drive, the trophies you win. Is success based on how happy you feel, or how you well other people perceive you doing? I think success comes down to how you perceive it, some people will finish a race and have a overwhelming sense of success just for participating, while another might do the same race and come 3rd and perceive it as failure because they didn't win. Likewise at a horse event a rider might be over the moon to come home just having finished without penalties, while another did the same and viewed it as failure because their score wasn't good enough. whose to say which attitude is right? We cant all win every time so are we failures every time we dont, or are we successfull because we are doing somethign we love.

What about the pony that carries endless number of children around gymkhana rings, along endless trails, and over countless jumps safely, but never wins the champion ribbon, is this the real success story? or is it the fiery pedigree pony the only an expert can ride, but with its beautiful looks comes home with the awards? whose really to say. I think that the safe pony with the heart of gold, and the super model looking fireball are both success stories, in their own right. Just like with people, the stay at home mother who raised well loved happy children, is probably just as successful as the woman who gives up everything to prove she can foot it in the professional world. Its definitely just how you perceive it, because no matter what you choose to judge it on, other people will have other opinions and other standards for success.

Where am i going with this??

Well, that little wild stallion, and a phone call i received today got me thinking. Up until now i felt a bit disappointed with myself that i didn't do as much as i could, with Matai while i had him. I am a competitive person by nature, i like wining, or being the best at something, and its a huge driving force behind me. This doesn't mean i don't get a sense of achievement, just by accomplishing things, just that i am always looking to do that little bit extra. I tried to convince myself that it was still a success to get that horse, from being totally wild to being the tamest horse on the property, and from being skin and bones to glossy and healthy, but until today is just had the ring of excuses to my ears.

Then the phone rang. It was a number i didn't recognise, and when i answered a very small child voice greeted me " Matai wheely likes me", i was taken aback who was this little voice on the other end of the line?, and then i clicked as the little voice continued talking " Mummy wode him today" the wild stallion's new owner has two very young girls, four and two years or around about that age. I was clearly having a conversation with a four year old girl, who was very importantly telling me about her day. I heard about "making mooseli wth gwandma" who apparently like all grandmothers has the nicest food, and all about her own pony, but most importantly i heard through a little girls eyes, about how much the wild stallion likes her, and she likes him to, when asked. After a few minutes of talking we said bye-bye.

Not long after that i got a text from the mother, who owns Matai. It said something along the lines of, her daughter was very excited and had wanted to talk to me all day, as she thinks Matai is pretty cool and cuddles him all the time, she herself has been riding him everywhere, and that he has been perfect and the whole family loves him. Basically the wild stallion is now the perfect lady rider mount and little girl cuddle buddy.

After that i felt that his adoption and training had truly been a complete success for the first time. It just took a four year old girl to adjust my perception. That horse has gone on to make so many people happy. I gave him the start he needed, to be able to look after himself and behave in a way that will guarantee him a loving and permanent home. He is a special horse and he didnt need ribbons, or to learn fancy movements, or jump massive obstacles to be successful. He justed needed to be calm and happy enought to let a little girl walk out and cuddle him, and a mother to feel safe enough to ride him everywhere. It takes a lot of effort to make a produce a horse to any level, a now to me it will always feel like a success now, knowing that the months of work put into a horse,have worked. He has gone on to be so loved straight away by his new family, surely that is the true measure of a successful horse??

On another note, people like me who truly love the horses we sell, it means the world to us, to hear back from their new owners. To know that they are being well loved, well taken care of and appreciated in their new homes. Sometimes it can be a truly thankless profession training and selling, the money is pretty low and hard to come by, so sometimes, a thankyou note, updates, an email, or in this case a text and a phonecall, make all the world of differance. I know today it made my day.

The wild stallion is gone

2011-08-31T19:06:00.002+12:00

The wild stallion is gone,Matai has moved off to his new life today.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry, to be relieved or be sad. I miss his presence already, but at the same time I'm so relieved to have seen him go to such a good home. It also cannot be denied that having one less horse on the property is a relief at the moment, as we are definitely a bit short of grass and have more horses than ever. But most of all i just miss him, hes only been gone four hours, and i have noticed his absence, so has Sonny the colt Matai's paddock mate. Now who is going to give me a good morning whinny from their stable each morning, and an afternoon neigh as he trots to the gate to be brought in at night? Matai was one of those special horses, one of the animals that i will always remember, who taught me so much, and was just a happy little brown presence in my life.

Matai wasn't actually meant to go today, there was still so much i wanted to do with him, cliche last ride and photos etc etc But it just didn't happen and with the competition season fast approaching again, as well as four new horses arriving to be worked, i was having less and less time to spend with my special ex wild ex stallion. so when his new owner came by to drop off an old mare shed borrowed to keep her child pony company after her own horse died, we talked about it and she decided to take Matai home with her. Part of me screamed 'No don't take him! I'm not ready yet!' but the sensible part of me let out a huge sigh of relief.

She had already ridden him today and it just confirmed my belief that this was the right home for him. With his wound site from gelding still not healed, he also needs to be monitored closely, and i knew she would take such good care of him, probably even better than i could. So off he went. he just loaded quietly into her float and they drove off together to start there new journey. I watched him go and heard one last nay as he went out of sight and thought my heart would break, it felt like a huge sense of loss to see him go.

But now as i sit on the computer typing i read something that makes selling him all the worth while, as i checked my facebook account the first thing that came on my screen was this
"Just bought my wild pony home hes such a sweet heart thank you so much chloe im sure we r going 2 have so much fun 2gether!" this was posted proudly for all to see by Matai's new owner..

I think that horse is going to go on to have a very happy life indeed. Whats even better though, is that she excitedly plans to take him to all the kaimanawa shows, as well as competing him in dressage events. together they will be promoting the wild horses, hopefully next muster this means even more horses may be adopted into loving homes, this can only be a good thing!

Just as she was about to leave i snapped a couple of quick pics, of her and Matai together. There not flash, he looks like he normally looks, chilled out and covered in mud. But that's what its all about really, she loves him and doesn't expect him to be a flash glamour horse, and he just is happy and content with life. Happy horse, happy owner, i think this is true success, cant wait to see whats in store for these to, I'm sure this wont be the last any of us see of them.

Balls be gone

2011-08-26T20:40:00.002+12:00

The days are n't long enough, theres too much work, to many horses, no matter how many hours i work, i never get everything done at the moment. But yesterday one thing did get done, the wild stallion got gelded. I sadly no longer have a wild stallion but a wild gelding, which does not have quite the same ring to it, does it? And really hes not even mine anymore.... It feels a wee bit like the end of an era.

I wish i had the energy to write a long post about the whole process, because it was actually fascinating. But tonight I'm too exhausted. I will just summarize.

Vet came, Matai being the lovely boy that he was stood there while she sedated him, and then lay quietly down on the ground when the anesthetic kicked in. From there, i grabbed his back legs, the vet his front and rolled him onto his back. i came round the front, straddled his front, braced his shoulders between my knees, and held onto his front legs, to keep him on his back. With his back legs spread wide, lying on his back, me holding his front legs, and his head on the ground behind me with his mouth open, and eyes glazed over, it was an odd picture in the middle of the paddock.

But we got it done, the vet cut through the scrotum, pulled the testicles out, attached a drill (yes a drill just like you'd use for building your house) to the cord, switched the drill on, which spun around and around, until 'pop' the family jewls just came right off, one by one. That was it Matai was gelded, very little blood, no stitches, just twisted cords, and a very sore spot where his stallion parts used to be. After about 20minutes, he woke up came to his feet, and spent the rest of the days walking around like, well, like some had just twisted his nuts off. This morining though he seemed non the worse for wear happily greeting me from his stable, before going out to graze wiht the rest of the boys.

i will keep you all posted, but my poor little wild stallion, while no longer mine or a stallion continues to be his happy horse self, hopefullyhe will heal up well wiht no complications, ifngers crossed.

the last wild stallion ride??

2011-08-23T20:32:00.005+12:00

I have to say now that Ive made the decision to sell my precious wild stallion, i have been much happier, and feel i have made the right choice. But knowing my days with Matai are numbered, before i have to hand him over to his new owner, i going to spend every minute with him just having fun. Today being no exception. So with the help of my terrible photographer, who shall not be named (my mother), we managed to take some of the worst photos, the wild horse project has ever seen, of what might be my last ride on the wild stallion, on Thursday the vet comes and he will instead become the wild gelding...

Going back to just having fun instead of 'training' made me remember the good old days, where as a kid, i used to spend all day galloping around bareback, usually in bare feet, untied and unbrushed hair tucked behind my ears, across the farms, with friends, taking our ponies through the steepest hills, deepest mud, leaping the biggest logs, and basically causing havoc on horse back. But this is where i learnt the most important lessons in horses and life. You learnt just what a horse was capable of, how steep they could climb, how deep the mud they could crawl through, and just how big an obstacle those ponies could jump. Galloping furiously to beat your friend on her pony, and pulling up just before you crashed into a gate, those were always the best memories.

In winter, i refused to use my saddle because i was so proud of it i didn't want it getting muddy, so i use to ride this one winding trail, bareback through the bush over in over again bareback, flying around the bends and leaping over thorn bushes that i progressively stacked higher and higher. Yet these things that i don't do anymore, they are what taught me how to sit on a horse, stay balanced and soft, to go with the motion, and let a horse jump without interfering. These were all skills i developed and have helped me in my career ever since. Riding Matai today reminded me of all those great adventures and skills, and how much fun they were.

Those years on horses growing up running feral, although unconventional, and probably not the safest, taught me more about 'feel' than a lifetime of lessons in an arena ever could. it means on days like today when i just want to have a bit of fun, i can go back to my old ways, blast around the paddock, jump things at random and cool off in a stream, you know what the horses love it too.

But what about everyone else? did anyone else learn any great life lesson this way? not just on horses, on farms, in the city, what is your story?

sold

2011-08-15T19:53:00.003+12:00

Well i think i have made up my mind, I'm going to go ahead and sell the wild stallion. Although the money isn't in the bank, it looks like the sale is going to go through. The rider definitelywants him, and i agreed to sell him finaly.

I think for him, it is the best thing possible. loving permanent home, with people i know. The lady buying him will be able to go on and keep progressing with his training. She plans to continue him in dressage, and even talked about doing some jumping (something she has not been confident enough to do in years), all because she feels so safe and confident, not on an old schoolmaster, but on my little stallion from the wild.

I will miss him so much, he really does have a special place in my heart. But it also means, apart from all the other reasons, i can adopt another little stallion from the next muster, and save another life. While little Matai, with his new owner will continue to promote these awsome horses, and hopefully get more of the equestrian public involved in giving homes to some of them.

It is always a bit frustrating from a trainers point of view though, that the horses that are easy to train, enjoyable to ride and work with, are always the ones you end up selling on. Well that's how it works for me anyway. I would never sell a horse if i thought it couldn't cope with a new person, as well as life in the big wide world. So the horses like Matai, who love everyone, handle life really well, and take care of themselves, are the ones that i get to spend the least amount of time with.

instead i spend extra months putting work into the panicky, unreliable, skittish, spooky, thick skulled or super hot,and less enjoyable animals. While i love all horses, they are not created equally as far as mental and physical ability.usually its the 'mutts' of the horse world i end up keeping, because i don't trust them to go to other people. You have to repeat every lesson to them a million times before they can reliably be expected to remember it when it counts. You have to ride every movement with exaggerated carefulness in a competition ring so they don't have a emotional meltdown. These are the horses that spook again and again at the same little things, and no matter how much time you spend, always look like they never seen a human before when your handling them. These are the 'enjoyable' creatures i keep for myself, not the Matai's of the world who feel like from the moment you sit on there back, that they are taking care of you.

A couple years ago i got a group of racehorses off the track. There was one i absolutely loved, he was intelligent, athletic and sensible, he actually reminds me a lot of the wild stallion. With in a few months he could do fantastic dressage, jump anything and was always there waiting at the gate to be worked. I did a handful of competitions for a few placing, which was awesome for such a green horse. Then i sold him to a young rider, even though i would have loved to have kept him for myself, he went on to be a really nice horse for his new owner. The horse in the bunch that i didn't like at all, but was by far the best looking, i spent 2 1/2 years riding before i could find a suitable home for her and i only ever got half as much money as the little gelding that i loved. horses with a good temperament are priceless, and will do absolutely anything for the right rider. Where as difficult ones teach you a lot, but will never be anywhere near as enjoyable or memorable.

Enough whinging though, i choose this career after all. Really it makes me so happy to know that Matai, the little wild stallion is going to such a fantastic home, and the horse that i love so so much, is going on to be loved just as much, and will bring endless joy to another family. Horses like him, you just cannot put a value on the happiness they bring, and are the real reason i choose to work with these animals.

choices

2011-08-11T17:54:00.003+12:00

there are always tough choices in life. How many times have i sat and wished a decision, especially anything to do with the farm and horses could be easier. hundreds of times I'm sure. I don't think even once in my life, Ive thought to myself "wow i wish it was a bit harder to make that decision". Nope, when deciding anything i always wish for it to be a little more clear cut, a little bit easier to decide.

Well in this case, my wishes might be coming true, not completely, but the choice as to whether or not to sell Matai, the wild stallion has become slightly less painful.Why? Well because the friend who's interested in him, has come for two trial rides now, and loved him. Not only loved him, but absolutely adored him, even more importantly the wild stallion seems to like her to. This important to me, i have very strong morals when it comes to selling horses, i will not send them to a home where i think they wont be cared for, or be thrashed for competitions, or where the rider isn't going to be able to cope with them if things don't work out. i care about my horses and put months, sometimes years into training them, i don't want to see that destroyed by a thoughtless or ignorant rider in a few short rides. Luckily if i sell Matai, i wont have to worry about this. The little stallion had no problem adjusting to someone else riding him, happily doing everything asked, and the rider, she was thrilled to be riding him, they looked so happy together, and more than competant of handling any challeges, this definatly put my heart at ease. My moral compass says that this sale, would be a good one for all three parties involved, Matai, myself, and the girl/ lady wanting him.

In fact it was great to see Matai go so well with somebody new, not just her, but for one ride, she brought her mother and two young daughters along as well. The little stallion from the wild, stood very quietly while the young girls admired and stroked his long flowing mane. The mother thought he was gorgeous to, and loved his calm disposition. He was a huge success, even better was that one ride took place at the local Pony club grounds. With kids, ponies, and parents coming and going the little stallion, was the picture of calm, except for a few wolf whistles for the ladies at the start of the ride, he was perfect, again allowing everyone to come up and meet him, standing quietly among all the comings and goings.

I still haven't accepted the money, so hes not sold yet, but at the moment I'm feeling a little bit more like the sale will go through. Like i said in the last blog, it is hard to guarantee a good home for your horse once they leave you hands, and this would be a fantastic one, where he would most likely never be sold on. Although I'm a little bit hurt that its not just me that Matai has a special bond with, and that he goes just as well for another rider, i also realise horse training is not actually like a Disney movie, where the horse just magically loves one person. in real life i think the sign of your success as a trainer, is that your horses can go on to cope with other riders, and be safe, happy, well adjusted animals, isn't that the real goal? If it is, then i think Ive done a pretty good job, as Matai was definitely a happy well behaved boy for his potential new owner.

I'm still thinking though and there are also plenty of pro's for keeping him too, but i just cannot decide if the pro's for keeping out weigh the pro's for the horse if i sell him......

any opinions are welcome......like i said you always want a decision to be that little bit easier.

sell out or not?

2011-08-06T21:02:00.002+12:00

Readers, i have some tough decisions to make. It was only recently i wrote a post about a friend who lost her beautiful mare in a freak accident. Well that same friend, who has always admired my little wild stallion, now wants to buy him. Do i sell him? The pro's and con's have been playing through my head for days.

For a little while now, i have been playing with the idea of actually keeping Matai, the wild stallion for me. I've never advertised him for sale, or even thought about selling him before.I absolutely adore that horse, one of the few, that will always have very, very special place in my heart. Every time i ride him, I'm blown away with his willing attitude, trainablity, and the sense of safety you get sitting on his back, like hes genuinely trying to take care of you. he has beautiful paces as well. Everyone i talked to or rode with in the last few weeks, encouraged me to keep him, saying he was far to special to sell, including the girl who now wants to buy him.

I still had in the back of mind the idea of turning him into a little dressage pocket rocket. a dream you might say, of going from the wild to the the top level of the sport, with one little brown stallion. With his great attitude it actually wouldn't be impossible. He would never be a superstar Olympic horse, but he would easily be trained to do all the tricks. On the flip side, all my other horses, are not really appropriate for anyone else to ride, too big and powerful (16hh &17hh warmblood), for my mid fifties mother returning to riding, and my occasional rider boyfriend, to be safe riding. Where as i can see both mum and boyfriend being well taken care of on the little wild stallion. It is always good to have one horse on the property that everyone can ride...

But, horse riding is also my business, and i do have to make money. I cant keep them all, and i definitely do not have enough hours in the day to ride and train them all. So i would always struggle to find the time to really train the little stallion to his full potential. time is money too, and he would always have to come after the two competition horses and clients horses. Where as the friend, has no other horses, except her daughter's welsh pony... Selling him would also give me breathing space, to be able to finally get around to working with the other wild horse, Fern, and mean i would have a little money so i don't have to take on any more horses for other people, for a little while at least.

So back to horses being my means of bread and butter, i also truly love and care all the animals own, and even if i didn't, i would still do my best to ensure they only go to good homes. If i sold him, this would be the best home he could ever hope to end up in. He would be cherished and loved, she would have the time to train him, and I'm sure he would go on to be ridden by her daughters when they are old enough. Matai is fantastic around children, happily standing still while they climb all over him, he would love being a kids pony, and is definitely more than capable of fulfilling his potential owners dressage ambitions. This would be a way for me to ensure his future, it would be horrible if i had to sell him somewhere down the line, and couldn't guarantee him as good a home as i could give him now. I'm pretty sure he would never be sold again, if this girl brought him, and it would be a loving home forever.

Another on the positive side of selling him, is that i would still get to see him all the time. he would never be far away, if she wanted help or advice, or just to go for a ride like we usually do, i would be just down the road so to speak. Best of both worlds i would still see my lovely little boy, but without the cost of keeping him, or the guilt when i didn't have time to ride him. I would also see him him in the hands of a rider, who is talented in her own right, and a delicate, sensitive and patient rider, she would be more than capable of training him, riding and handling him, in a way that would carry on and improve the work i have already done. This is not something i say lightly or believe of other horse riders.

Part of me is selfish though. I feel i would be handing over the reins, just as the all the work i have put in, is starting to come together nicely, just as people stop rolling their eyes and give compliments when the see me riding my little brown stallion. All the hard slog, believing in and not giving up when he was a skinny, scrawny, unremarkable, underwhelming hairy thing, that stepped off the back of a cattle truck. Now when it gets to the fun part, i don't get to enjoy it, somebody else does. Part of it is also giving up the ' wild stallion' day dream i have been entertaining since he arrived. He would go on to be someone elses wild gelding. Not that is such a horrible thing i guess.

decisions, decisions. I haven't decided what to do yet. but if it all works out i will probably sell him, because it is the logical choice, if not what my heart wants. It is hard though, all that work to hand over now, what about Sonny, who will become his new mentor without Matai to baby sit him. The Wild horse Project also just wont be the same though, without one little wild stallion.

Hospitals & horsemen

2011-08-05T18:35:00.004+12:00

Hmm i have been kicked a few times in my line of work, most of the time it hurts but you carry on. Sometimes you sit on the ground for a while, get a bruise and limp for a few days, but your OK. What doesn't usually happen, is that you end up in hospital from complications 5 days after you have been kicked, but that's what happened to me. Never has one little pony, costing a grand total of $250 dollars, been able to wreak so much havoc.

That kick hurt, allot. I was on crutches for the first two days, and every movement was agony, a x-ray showed the little ratbag, had managed to not only chip a tiny bit of bone in my hip, but also managed to focus the full force of the blow across the femoral artery in my thigh. It basically looked like i was wearing black and blue bikini bottoms, so swollen and bruised was my thigh/pelvis region. The chipped bone i could live with , no real damage done, the femoral artery on the hand while not torn, had been compressed, not only by the kick but by the subsequent haematoma, and this is where all my trouble started.

i thought i was fine, i was beginning to get my mobility back, was hobbling around the farm, and had even ridden the wild stallion, the horse i most trusted to take care of me after injury. I was out of breath all the time, but put this down to limping taking a lot more effort than walking. My family however did not like my gasping for breath, and just when i thought i was ready to be back to full work, they literally dragged me off my horse, i had been sitting on the stallion for about thirty seconds, and took me to the doctors.

This doctors visit, resulted in being sent for more tests, a ultra sound of my artery and vein in my thigh, and a blood test for something called D-dimers. This done i went back to the farm and work to wait results, well in truly thinking my family were being ridiculous.

The blood work didn't come through until the next morning, again i was feeding out horses, oblivious,when this time my father arrived. He ordered me to change as we were going back to the doctors,i rolled my eyes, argued and eventually gave in. thinking id be home in an hour i just threw on some clothes, and left he horses in the stable.

I wasn't back for two days. Doctors visit, resulted in being sent to hospital, apparently my blood work showed i had clots in my blood, suspected in my lungs, that was causing me to be out of breath. I waited in the emergency ward all afternoon, i had CT scans (which hurt, as they put a dye in your blood that feels like white hot fire), a chest x-ray, and was examined by another doctor, who admitted me to hospital for the night. By then i had a sense of disbelief, i couldn't believe there was this much fuss, i felt fine apart from a bruised and stiff hip. I asked to be allowed to home, but that request was firmly denied. Not only that, they said i had to have a series of injections in my stomach, to help break down any clots left in my system. Needles jabbed into you stomach, is not a pleasant experience, i still have a row of bruises to show for it.

To add to the humiliation, they would not let me walk, the put me in a wheel chair, and wheeled me to my ward for the night. This is after id spent the last few days, working on the farm and riding my little brown stallion. i felt like a complete fraud being there, as i had limped in feeling pretty healthy, although what ever was in those injections, sure had me feeling like death for a while after. Everyone else on the beds next to me looked far worse, and actually sick, as well as about 50 years older than me. It all felt so wrong and unreal.

The next 48 hours were misery. Endless hours of boredom, broken up with nurses and doctors, poking and prodding and sending me off for more tests. I was sure after a while, that i had no blood left in my veins to be tested, i felt more bruised from having my already sensitive thigh pushed on with ultra sound equipment, even my heart ended up being scanned, an now we know i have an incredibly healthy heart. Even though i tried to convince them i have a naturally low heart rate, and blood pressure, they didnt listen and woke me up every hour during the night, to take my pulse and bloodpressure, apparntly my heart is, although healthy, about 20beats slowere than normal people. So i was bored, tired, grumpy and feeling worse than ever before. What were they so worried about anyway?

Death. when i finally asked what the alternative to these endless tests and treatment was, the doctor carefully explained that with blood clots, they can either pass harmlessly, or kill you. No in between. Now the catch was they thought, i had already had a clot in my lungs, but it had actually passed harmlessly, while i was still limping around the farm blissfully ignorant, by the time i got to hospital i was already healing, my breathing was better, and they were just seeing the left over signs of what could have killed me, but didn't. They thought, and i gues i do to, it was better to be safe than sorry, when it comes to potentially deadly blood clots in a ptaients lungs.

But by the end of the second day i was going out of my mind, i wanted to go home. I felt sicker for being around all the sick people. I had one final ultrasound at 3.30pm, thankfully it was all clear, i raced back to my ward, having kicked the wheel chair along time ago, i waited to be dismissed. But the doctor was busy and they wouldn't have time to see me 'blah blah blah', i was fine, i felt fine, my tests showed i was fine, i wanted to go home, so i used my most charming voice and begged the nurse to let me go. she wanted to keep me one more night, but i begged some more, convinced her to take my IV needle out of me arm, and was allowed to go home on 'leave' if i promised to come back in the morning.

i never went back. i rang early the next morning, explained to them that i was felling very healthy, and thankfully they agreed to discharge me with out having to go back. five blood tests, four ultrasounds, four injections and four bruises to the stomach, two x-rays, an uncomfortable CT scan, two more days than i ever want to spend in hospital, and my ordeal was over. I survived, i know i should be grateful, and i am, I'm actually extremely appreciative to all the doctors and nurses who took the time to look after me and ensure I'm not six feet under ground. But its a funny feeling to never have felt in danger of my life, but know i survived what could have killed me.

It also really hammered home, the lesson, no matter how good a horseman you are, how experienced, even if you are rushed, teach ground manners, it doesn't matter the size of the horse. I knew better, and by god, i know even better now, how important those ten or so minutes you spend teaching a horse basic respect and manners can be. I never had problems with the wild horses, because i never underestimated them, took the time, and from the instant i was around them i enforced the rules, that they would not run over, swing there bum at me or treat me any differently from the boss mare. i underestimated the little pony and i have been paying the price ever since.

If their is any good to be taken from the whole situation, it is that i was put in a bed next to a old man who had come in with a heart attack. We got to talking, he was old,about 90, left all alone in the world, and wanted to chat. Turns out as a young man he spent years in the Australian outback, with a team of 16 Clydesdale's horses, building damns for livestock on isolated farms. He talked about driving a team of eight at a time breaking earth, pulling logs, and trans forming barren earth into farmland. he would work for months at a time just him and the horses never seeing another human being. Those horses were his family, friends, income and only chance of survival out there. He told me of the respect and responsibility he had for those horses, amazingly 70 years later, he could still remember most of their names. I should have got his autograph, the man was a living legend, a souvenir of times gone by, when horses were n't a luxury but a way of survival.

ouch

2011-07-28T21:19:00.004+12:00

I'm getting to that point in my life where i can realise my strengths an weaknesses, well some of them anyway, i selectively ignore others. I know that I'm good at getting jobs done, but dint have great attention to detail, e.g i can bake a great cake, but icing it with pretty little flowers is not my thing. I can clean the barn, but my halters wont be hanging up according to colour. I know house work is a big weakness, and tidiness's may have been left out of my genetic code. But one thing i do definitely can do, is take a big hit,I'm tough, and it takes a lot to put me on the ground, or worse yet in bed. if i was a wilting delicate flower i would not have survived a month in my current career. So when i ended up not only hitting the deck, but unable to get off couch it was not a good thing.

Funny enough it was one of the smallest horses on the property that brought me to the ground. It also wasn't a wild horse, but an innocent looking little welsh pony. As usual with horses it was also my fault.

I brought two little ponies on Monday, something i have been meaning to post about, but that will come later. They are half feral, untrained, and malnourished things, that i picked up for pittance with the idea of turning them into kids ponies. Now it is always my own rule, that as soon as any new horse arrives on the property that i do basic ground work with it, to make sure it does n't kick, bite or otherwise trample people. I meant to with these ponies, but i didn't, i was busy and the only handling these horses got were taking them to and from there stable.

so yesterday evening i was leading them both to the barn, it was late, i was tired, it was the last job of the day, and mentally i wasn't on my 'A' game. Sometimes i also find after dealing with massive horses, or wild horses all day, sometimes i take the little ones a bit more casually, i shouldn't i know, but it happens, and now I'm paying for it. As also, often happens with young horses, they were a bit spooky, eyes wide open, and jumping from any leaf that moved. about halfway to the barn, as we walked past a paddock, the Shetland pony came tearing up, galloping and bucking. Well little Bramble, the more fiery of the two ponies, thought this midget horse was monster coming to get her. She leaped forwards trying to make a break for it herself, hitting the end of the lead rope, she tried to dart sideways. meanwhile her friend Cassie the other pony was on my other side, being more docile she was just standing watching the show, but she was definantly blocking the way if need to move out of range fast.

We have an old farm dog, Tonka, the worlds most incorruptible dog, faithful, stoic, and a real working dog, he accompanies me very seriously all day, helping when he thinks his services are required to encourage horses, or geese, or any other livestock in the right direction. hes also old, lately we have noticed mentally, he not as quick, and his deep eyes are now clouded with cataracts, which cause him endless frustration as hes struggles to see in the fading light, so the otherwise sensible dog, now occasionally loses his composure. He saw that horse leap forward, knew it wasn't right and sprung at it from the side to give a quick nip at his heels. Even as i went to yell at the dog to stop, the horse swung it hind end away, and in my concern to get the old dog out of harms way, i wasn't paying attention. Bramble hindquarters swung right into the lead rope, brushing her legs, now she really thought she was in real trouble, dog one side, midget monster other side of the fence, and now a snakey rope around her back leg, she wasn't going to take the time to ask questions, using every bit of power those hind legs could muster she lashed out as hard as she could, and the thing standing right behind her, was me.

I tried to move quick, but there was a horse blocking my escape route, and you can never react as fast as a horse can quick. One of those sharp, rock hard pony hooves got me, right in the pelvis. Not just a glancing blow, but square full contact, with all the force behind it. For a millisecond thought it might not hurt, then i dropped both lead ropes and threw myself side ways to the ground, and i screamed. I never scream, i never even cry, im a tough farm girl, but i screamed like never before. Never in my life have i felt such pain, like id been shot with burning white hot iron. i hit the driveway curled into a ball, and let out a sound of a dying hyena, i couldn't even cry, just a screaming wail,i didn't care who heard, in fact i hoped some one did. But as usual i was on the farm alone, our neighbors are far away and i don't think a living human sole heard me.

I have been kicked by horses many times in my career, its a occupational hazard. In fact last year a similar thing happened with another small pony, it even managed to chip a piece of bone from the femur in my left thigh, there was a bruise for months, and even now a permanent calcified hard lump remains in my leg to show for it. That kick was nothing compared to this. i just lay on the drive with gravel digging into my face, and screamed, and then cried, then sobbed and eventually could take gasping breath, but that white hot fire burned from the toe of my right all the way to my ribs, and i stayed paralysed with pain in a fetal position for what seemed like an hour, before i had the courage to try any movement. cautiously i tried my toes, just wiggling them, and they worked, i tried moving my lower leg, it hurt, but i could do it, then my whole leg, and that made me wail.

it hurt so bad, i wanted to hear car tyres on the driveway of someone coming to save me, i knew i still had to put these horses away , and somehow make it to the house, yet it hurt so bad i just wanted rescuing, even the thought of walking made me want to scream all over again. But I knew no rescue was coming, the boyfriend was overseas sailing, and none of my family were due home for hours. It was just me, and all the time i was thinking, i cannot afford to be this hurt, i had clients horses to break in. now these two little ponies, the wild mare, the olympic rider's horse to work, plus the competition season just around the corner, meaning my big horses need to be in work, i could not afford to be hurt! The thought just made the pain all the more worse.

in the meantime, Tonka sensing my distress, had done what he thought was the best course of action to cure the situation, chasing the ponies far away for their naughtiness, and now was finding every stick on the property and dropping it on my face, so we could play fetch ( the other meaning of his doggy life), in the hopes that this was the required action to stop my howling, as in every other situation him bringing me sticks, brought a positive response from me, and gave him a fulfillment in life fetching them for me. So there i was curled up on the driveway in almost darkness, covered in a pile of wood with a dog standing over me, and ponies running madly up and down the driveway dragging lead ropes. Excellent.

i wont go into details, but i managed to hobble and put the ponies away, and make it to the house. For the first time in my life i was really hurt though, i couldn't breath properly, i was crying, i was to scared to even look at my stomach, which from the bottom of my hip to my bellybutton was swelling fast, i wasn't being tough and i felt vulnerable like never before, which frightened me. So i did what i have never done, and behaved like any hurt child, i text my mum and asked her to come home for me. in the mean time i couldn't stop shaking uncontrollably, i am a very clear headed person so i did what i thought was the best course of action, hoped in a warm shower then into bed. still shaking and now hyperventilating, i called my much more corruptible dog, Lucy, into bed with me, if no person was going to be there to give me a hug, a dog at that point, would do. I curled around Lucy, and breathed as slowly as i could.

My mother of couse is a saint, and was home within twenty minutes, i know I'm a big girl, but its still great to have your mum come take care of you,a huge bonus for me is that my mother is also a doctor. Unfortunately this wasn't the end of the drama, the mum Doctor fearing the worst, dragged me down the road to another doctor neighbor for a second opinion, apparently fearing id torn my femoral artery. Just what i always wanted my neighbor feeling around my inner thigh and pelvis (sarcasm), but he was more concerned that i had cracked my hip, and at least confirmed to my mum i wasn't going to bleed to death internally in the night. Again i wish that was the end of it, but later in the night, just when i wanted to sleep more than anythign in the world, the mother dragged me all the way to the local hospital, still fearing for the artery or internal injuries. After a lengthy wait and a nonchalant check from the nurse i was sent back home.

i survived the night, i can hobble, so i guess I'm going to live, fingers crossed x-rays this afternoon come back clean. all this for a mongrel pony that cost me $250.

Moral of the story, do the ground work on horse straight away, little bit of time to begin with will save you days on crutches in the long run. From day one with the wild horses i did ground work and they have always been amazing to handle, if id done the same with these far less wild ponies i wouldn't have to be writing this.

to soon to young

2011-07-23T18:27:00.004+12:00

This morning after days of rain the sun came out. I woke up feeling inspired and full of life, ready to achieve all manner of things. Then i opened my phone, and read a text I'd received during the early hours of the morning. I sat back down on the bed, and the bright light of day suddenly faded, in a 160 little letters, i got news that broke my heart.

Every rider dreads losing a horse, its not just the animal, but the hopes, dreams, goals and the journey that goes with them. To lose a young horse, a talented horse, and one that you have waited and planned and dreamed about, is devastating beyond belief. My very good friend had just that happen to her today. Hearing her news broke my heart, i completely understand the pain, and numb sense of disbelief that this kind of thing brings. Although not my horse, it was a very special one, and a mare that i have had a lot to do with, riding and schooling her from time to time.

In fact, not three days ago, i took the wild stallion out for a ride with this mare and her rider who is a dear friend. We talked the whole time about our horses, how hers was developing from a lanky young horse into a little super star. how the stallion continued to amaze us with his temperament and trainability. We talked excitedly about how this mare was going to be a fantastic dressage horse to train through to grand prix, and all her little bits of progress. Most of all her rider talked about how she was enjoying the experience of having a young horse, and the journey of training her. That journey is now over. in one freak accident. Horses are like that. one minute your on top with a bright future, next you cant believe the depths of pain you can feel.

we had the worst storm i can ever remember last night. Thunder and lightening that shook the roof all night long. Sometime during the night this little mare ran through a fence and broke her neck, dieing instantly. just like that she was gone. The extra tragic part, is that this friend made the tough decision to put her faithful old pony to sleep earlier in the week, as it wasn't coping with the harsh winter. So within 1 week she lost the two horses that were most special to her. To make matters even worse, my friend was super excited to be taking this mare to a clinic with a favorite trainer this weekend. She got up early to go get horse, but instead of picking her up for the clinic, she was met by her mother with the tragic news that she would never be seeing her lovely mare alive again.

I'm sure every horse rider and animal lover understand the pain and shock. I know i felt absolutely crushed and couldn't help crying as i talked to her on the phone. Such a beautiful horse taken way to young. I did what i could to help, and loaded up our quiet old stock horse mare and took her over, to keep the now severely traumatised pony her four year old daughter rides company. Dont let anyone tell you horses dont feel sadness, or loss or pain. This little mare was constantly looking for her companion, trying to get to where her dead freind body lay. was only all the more sad to see. Every time we have lost a horse, i know it has upset the whole herd for days! Once we made the descision to put a sick broodmare to sleep, her foal stood on the spot where she was buried for four days without moving. Horses just like humans feel greif.

RIP Tommy Girl, so sad your gone, and to all of you who have lost a good horse way to soon. I feel you greif.

the wild mare gets ridden

2011-07-22T19:45:00.002+12:00

I rode the wild mare for the first time today. Finally. She was awesome, its a shame Ive had to put it off so long.

For months now, every time i have set aside a date to get Fern the wild mare started, something come up, i had other people horses to work, i was going away, it was impossible due to weather. Well today enough was enough. I rode this morning in the pouring rain by the time i had ridden the wild stallion, the first horse of the day, i was soaked through 3 layers of clothing to the absolute bone, there were rivers ruining down the driveway, and lakes forming in the paddock. Clearly their was to be no more riding outside today.

Standing in the stables, leaning across the back of the wild grey mare, watching torrents of water rain down from the sky, and pour off the side of the barn, i pondered what to do so the day was not a complete waste. As the way i see it every day spent inside waiting for weather to clear, loses me time and money, it also frustrates me to no end, not to be achieving anything, so much so that i grump around the house like a stung bear.

Then it hit me, the answer was literally right under my nose. The Grey horse. She needed work, i was realistically never going to have time to take her off the property and get her started in a friend round pen, so why not start here,now in the stable. As soon as i thought i knew i would do, and that it would work. All the ground work was there, she;d had a saddle on, knew how to bend and turn and all those things, i had just never sat on her.

I started by untying her from her position in the corner with the hay net. Taking her to the middle of the barn, i did a few bits of ground work and rubbing her all over to get her attention. Then jumping up and down beside her til she was happy with that, not just standing rigid but actually relaxed with me jumping like a lunatic. Next i hooked an arm over neck and sprung as high as i could, laying my torso across her wither so she was supporting all my weight. Well Fern saw me leap, felt my weight on her back, tensed her body up like a plank, and then did....nothing, she stood there, tilted her head towards me and rolled an eye to see what i was up to, and sighed out a deep breath, as if to say she would accept my mad antics if not understand them.

Well in not time i swung my leg all the way over her back, and was riding in small circles around the barn. That wild mare never worried, she just accepted what i was doing calmly and quietly. We could turn both ways, stop and walk on within five minutes, and that was that, the wild mare has been ridden. bare back and in a barn aisle, but ridden none the less.

Great Expectations

2011-07-20T19:46:00.004+12:00

We all have expectations when it comes to life, sometimes high sometimes low.At times events will exceed expectations, other times for well short. But i find more often than not things pan out how we expect them to to. But do our expectations effect the way things turn out??

I think yes they do. Especially with horses, you see all the time in riders how there expectations affect the horse. Maybe its nerves at a show, the classic is " i don't think my horse will cope at a competition!" and sure enough the rider expects the horse to misbehave, changes their behaviour or riding because of this, and sure enough the horse does get nervous and becomes unable to cope. Now would that horse have coped if the rider though it could? Or would it have become nervous regardless? I think a lot of it comes down to what we expect, is what we get.

Stallions, people have many different expectations about these creatures. The expect them to be hot blooded, hormone driven, monsters, ready to rape anything with four legs that moves. Dangerous to be around, they really strike fear into some people. But i believe that they are only as bad as people think they will be. i always expect my 'wild stallion' to behave like a docile gelding, and he does. Of course its not that simple, i set pretty clear guidelines and quickly correct him, shoud he stray over the boundary of acceptable behaviour. But really my expectations, effect my body language which in turn effect the way my horse behaves. Nervous body language= nervous horse. Calm body language=calm horse, well that my theory anyway.

Case point- I had a little holiday down to beautiful Queenstown for my birthday, and on my return have been riding Matai every day...finally, as since he was broken in he has never been in consistent work, only a handful of rides here and there! Today i floated him out to go for a ride with a friend and her mare. I expected him to behave, but this might be a example of a horse exceeding expectations. He was amazing, he was by far the younger and less experienced of the two horses, yet he led the way down roads, through farm raceways, past tractors,across bridges and puddles,in the wind and rain, like he had been doing it his whole life. The mare was no trouble either, he even stood quietly as i held her, while his owner opened gates for us. No wild neighing, and trying to mount her, just calm acceptance of another horse. Happily walking right beside her all throughout the ride. we even jumped little fallen logs for the first time ever. he took everything in his stride.

That little stallion from the wild is one of the funnest horses i have ever owned. So dependable, willing and sensible, even though he is still really green broke, you would never know it. you feel safe from the moment you sit on him. The only funny inccident on the whole ride was coming across a herd of dairy cows on their way to the evening milking. The stallion suddenly let out a shrill call of "ladies I'm over here" only as we got closer did he realise that there were not in fact horses but of the bovine persuasion, he stopped dead in shock and watched the cows file past, with a look of surprise and amazement, his little brown eyes wide open peeking through his thick fringe, that he had so misjudged these black & white creatures with there hip swaying walk, which were not horses at all.

I know i have been on both ends of the stick expecting a horse to misbehave and it has, but today i was happily on the other end. having a horse behave just how i would expect it to and more. Go the little wild stallion

Confessions

2011-06-30T20:29:00.006+12:00

Its my birthday & i have a confession to make. I have been keeping a secret for about eight months, well not really a secret, but more not telling my whole opinion. But now i am just going to come out and say it, get it off my chest.here it goes...

Sonny is ugly.....

I know i shouldn't be so shallow, beauty is on the inside, blah blah blah. But my wild foal is not easy on the eye. I do feel bad saying it, and its not that i don't love him just as much, but he is not good looking.

All this time i have been trying to take flattering photographs, and put nice comments about him on this blog. but every time i look at him in the paddock, i just think to myself 'what happened?' his mother Fern, is gorgeous, all visitors to the farm exclaim and gush over the beautiful wild horse. Matai has own cuteness about him too. So when fern was pregnant, even though we tried not to, we anticipated something to match her, or at least something like Matai. But Sonny stunned us, not with his super star appearance, but with his bad looks.

He was born in the middle of the night at my feet, story here, and when he first took his wobbly steps the thought that went through my head when i saw his profile in the moonlight was "good god was there a donkey loose on the ranges?" he looked like a little mule. A Big hammer shaped head, stocky legs and a solid dumpy body, he looks just like what a horse built to survive on a mountain should. Strong, tough, and able to withstand anything nature throws at him. he is not something you would find prancing around in the show rings of Europe.

All weanling's are ugly, its just that stage of life, but with his winter coat, Sonny looks like a woolly kumara (kumara are a long lumpy type of sweet potato). This big head now sports a beard that runs along his bottom jaw, wiht a white pointed muzzle that only empaises his big head. his legs are covered in long pale brown/ whitish hair, making them even stockier, and his growth rate has sent his butt about inch higher than his shoulder, so his body looks like he slightly tilted forward at all times.Thank god he cant understand what we say as his self confidence would be shattered. Especially compared to the other two foals which hit the ground looking like supermodels, he has been lovingly referred to as mule baby, ugly duckling, donkey, & all other sorts of names because well his looks aren't his best feature.

But for all that, he has been the sweetest little guy. In his mother eyes I'm sure to, that he is the most handsome thing to walk the earth. But to us, he all the more lovable because well he is the ugly little duckling, that everyone who visits jokes about. He is such a considerate boy to, now that he runs with the stallion, he has grown into a sensible cotl, and when hes being caught or handled always has this expression that he trying to be mature and responsible. He is not the cheeky energetic imps that gallop around causing chaos like the other two hooligans. He stands sensibly and quietly almost concerned to do the wrong thing, with what i call his thinker pose on.

He may not be a beauty queen, or a graceful moving dancer,but he does have other skills that will hopefully help him in life. that quiet stoic nature means he will be able to cope in many different situation, those strong sturdy legs less likely to break or damage, and with his great metabolism he will never be an expensive horse to have around. He can jump too, no gorse bush branch or tuft of grass gets in his way, he always take the straightest route from A to B, and if something is in his way, he happily soars over it, with perfectly tucked knees, and that big butts gives him plenty of power to lift high above any obstacle. So hopefully there will be a place in the world for him when he gets older.

But before anyone thinks I'm mean and horrible about my little wild foal, i do love him dearly. Out of the three babies born this year, its Sonny not the specially bred warm bloods, that's parading around the paddock in a brand new hunter green cover. with the wet weather the babies coats are just not keeping them dry, and wet cold foals, are not healthy horses. so keeping them dry is always worth the investment, as it means less money spent on feeding, and less health problems. So while the warm blood babies are wearing the hand me downs of every other foal we've ever bred, Sonny gets the best in a completely waterproof, thick, warm sparkly new winter rug. So despite his appearance sonny will always be well cared for and loved with us.

Somthing a bit differant to celebrate

2011-06-27T21:26:00.006+12:00

I have some other news and something to celebrate, this is slightly veering from the theme of this blog but still equestrian related so i thought id post it anyway. I have been meaning to post this the last few days, but then Fern went AWOL and got colic, and before that i was a bit rushed off my feet. So now is as good a time as any. That horse you see in the pictures above, is the other man in my life, besides the boyfriend and the wild stallion. He is the reason, i never have time to work the other horses, spend all my weekends at horse shows, and travel for hundreds of miles to these shows and then put up with days of sleeping in freezing conditions in the back of a horse float.

This is my eventing horse Jet, and i love him dearly (not that i don't love any of them), he is my version of a Ferrari, or sports car, i have had him since he was a three year old gangly, shaggy, hairy and massive (17hh) young thing, that looked like nothing special at all to look at. Now as a six year old he coming into his own, with a string of successful results behind us from this season.

Anyway, last Friday night was the end of season eventing rider of the year awards. I have been nominated the last three years, first as a young rider, but never been able to scoop the title. This year i finally won, i got Amateur Rider if the year. I didn't win overall rider if the year, but I'm still pleased as anything, i must be doing some thing right, and makes all the slogging through winter mud, living with a generator instead of normal electricity, and long hours on the farm alone trying to train horses in less than ideal conditions...

More than anything I'm proud of my horse, he is awesome, and the biggest adrenalin rush in the world is to ride at a gallop that horse around a course of cross country jumps. He is a rare creature in that hes bold & brave, but quick and light on his feet for a big horse, he also loves his job, never once do you feel your having to force him to do it. Go Jet, my big bay horse. maybe one day one of the wild horses can join him out eventing...

SH#T!!!!!

2011-06-26T11:57:00.004+12:00

I lost my grey horse.....

Anything out of the ordinary with animals is usually bad, it sets alarm bells ringing in my head immediately. I may be a bit pessimistic, but through years of experience, this is what i have learned. Changes from the routine are rarely good. So it was yesterday when i couldn't find my wild grey mare. Fern was missing...

Fern usually comes into the barn for the day, but yesterday i left her and another mare in the paddock, as i was going to be away all day riding. I left hay in the paddock to keep them occupied. When i left i saw a grey shape away grazing on top of the hill, I thought it was odd she hadn't come down for the hay, but with the wet weather and muddy slopes, i have found a few of the horses would rather stay up high & dry than try negotiating down the hill to hay. So off i went.

I got home late, verging on dark. By the time i had put the other horses away, and moved the rest of the mares & foals into a new paddock, Fern was nowhere to be seen.Sh#t! Sh%t! Sh#t!!!! this was defiantly alarm bell material, darkness, mud, rain & a horse somewhere off in a large paddock alone. Horses are herd animals, they do not ever really choose to be alone, especially if they usually are with a herd. If separated they will call and call to each other. Yet this night there was a sound except the squelching of my boots as i trudged through the paddock, and the steady increase of rain drops falling in the mud.

This month we have already had more than half a metre of our average rainfall. Every paddock is mud, walking through a gateway you risk thick brown sludge spilling over the top of your gumboot, and now on top of the mud is a couple inches of standing water. Everywhere you walk, every step is draining, every time u pick up a foot it comes up with a pound of mud attached. By this time its dark, raining, and I'm walking up & down hills through scrub and brush, slipping on wet clay, and still no Grey horse to be found. I searched for an hour every fence line, track and crevice, anywhere i thought a horse my get caught fall or stuck. She wasn't anywhere.

I got a flash light and the dogs and went looking again. No grey horse. I was soaked and exhausted it was clear that it was going to take more than me to find her. This was a large paddocks on a hillside and it was filled with dense bush. All kind of thoughts were going through my head, mainly that with the wet & mud i would find her in a similar situation to what i did last year...

Finally at 11pm when i had rounded up family members with flash lights to go out for a final search, grey walked by herself out of the bushes, seeing our flashlights she called out with her usual friendly neigh, and walked right up. Slipping the halter on i checked her over, dreading to see leg laceration or similar injuries. Nothing. No wounds, she was muddy like shed been down on the ground but no marks on her to show shed been stuck anywhere. But in a way this made it all the more weird, Fern is a friendly horse, she likes coming in to the barn and shes never difficult to catch so i doubt she'd been just misbehaving before, in fact she usually greets with a neigh to be taken to the barn. Again it was weird that she tolerated separation from the herd. So why the hell had it taken me 6 hours to find her and then she had just walked right up to me??

This become apparent all to soon as soon as id led her down the hill and met up with the fellow searchers. She just lay straight down on the ground in the middle of us. This is not a good sign in any horse, Horse very rarely lie down for any reason, most choosing to sleep on their feet. You have to remember they are prey animals and being on the ground is a very vulnerable position.Fern hadn't lied down for a nap, this meant she was sick, and lying down in this way usually mean colic!!

Colic basically covers any sort of intestinal upset in horses, and can mean mild tummy upset, to a twisted gut and death. my little grey horse wasn't out of the woods yet. She was just sitting down in the mud, not thrashing and rolling which was a good thing. If a horse has colic, you want to stop them rolling on the ground as this is what leads to a twisted gut. After about one minute she got to her feet again. This time i kept her walking, right up to the barn.

Suddenly things made more sense though. A sick animal will take itself away from the herd, or sometimes a herd will drive out the old or weak. I'm sure Ferns instincts told her to hide when she fell sick.By the time i found her it was my guess that was because she wanted to be found, the worst had already passed. It would also explain the mud all over if she had been lying down, and why i couldn't find her. If she was lying amongst the scrub brush i could have walked right by and not seen her, looking as i was for a horse on it feet not on the ground.

In the barn she was more settled, but occasionally looked back and nipped at her belly, to show signs of discomfort, confirming my belief that it was colic. She sipped water and nibbled a little hay, but nothing like her normal self. pawing occasionally she at least wasn't trying to go down anymore. Living on a farm we are far from any vets, as it is their are no horse vets in the area anyway, so Fern treatment was going to come down to us.So it was for the next hour i kept an eye on her, watching for any signs of her improvement or turning for the worse. But by midnight i thought she was improving. No longer pawing or biting at herself.

Finding the flattest paddock i could, and one where she would not disappear into the bush again, i turned her out. My thinking was that a paddock was safer than a stable as if she was to lay down and get cast against a stable wall we would be in real trouble. But she seemed fine going on to graze. I checked on her through the night but she seemed happier and passed the worst of it.

By morning she was back to her old self, and i breathed massive sigh of relief. I thought id lost my grey horse when i couldn't find her for all those hours, thankfully the colic passed too and shes okay.I think If i had found her hanging upside down with a broken limb, or dead from a twisted gut, i would have ever forgiven myself or been able to write on this blog again.

At the same time i think that sturdy and sensible wild horse mentality, probably allowed her to cope and recover better than most horses. My sensitive sport horses would probably have galloped, or lay thrashing on the ground unable to cope and ended up in far worse shape. So thankfully we still have all our horses safe and healthy and the only legacy being an extremely exhausted blogger, from a night of worry and stress.

The little brown pony.

2011-06-23T18:16:00.007+12:00

It is hard to believe that the little brown pony i took for a ride down our road today, once ran wild. Its also hard to believe that when he arrived he looked as if the wind could blow him over. Now he gleams with vitality as well as having that little bit of extra presence, that being a stallion brings. Yet he is still the sweetest, sensible, and affectionate little horse around. The Wild stallion is not so wild.

With the constant mud, that sucks at your feet as soon as you step out the door, and tries to pull your boots from your feet if you venture into a paddock or gateway, being on the farm and trying to ride horses at the moment is extremely depressing and unpleasant work. The horses feel it too, they sulk under trees, or any bit of raised ground, the foals curl in tight balls on top of the hay piles to sleep. Even coming to the barn for feeding, fails to excite them, the horses that usually gallop up the drive now plod along head down.There is a general air of lethargy around the place. Not so with Matai The little brown stallion still bounces up and down the hill all day, greets you with a huge nicker and runs to the gate to receive his feed. he watches from his paddock above the barn, all the coming and goings, and happily talks to any of the horses who happen to look his way. I guess in the scheme of things, even the crappiest weather we get here on the farm, beats being starving in the snow and at the bottom of the pecking order like he would have been in the wild last winter.

I look back at the above photo's, and look at the horse in the paddock & its hard to believe they are one in the same. Matai was the most underwhelming horse to lay eyes on, when he first walked off that truck, you had the huge sense of pity for the small,timid and skeletal creature standing in front of you. he was sooo tiny, thin, with course and dull brown coat, showing through yellow in places from malnutrition, ribs and hip bones jutting out, he only looked to be a yearling maybe two years old at best. it really did look like the wind would knock him off his feet Things have changed.

But the change wasn't overnight it took months......

Just look how far this little fellow he came, this isn't all the way either. These photos are taken over a couple of months. Yet they could be over a couple of years. I looked at his teeth when he first arrived, sure enough, they showed him to be about 2years old.....eight months later his mouth had completely changed & he had a set of 4-5 year old teeth, he aged two years in 8months. Or more likely with having good nutrition his body was able to catch up and develop to his actual age.

December 2010

the Christmas ponies!!

The first ride....in the paddock, bareback in a halter

Our all day along the beach, the little stallion from the wild, happy with mare for company, again just bareback in a halter....
Show day....

There are about a hundred other photos i want to put on this post but these will have to do for now. The little stallion can now be ridden, saddled or bare back, you can lead him off another horse (including mares), today he happily went down the road for a ride, even sticking his head in the neighbors car window when she stopped for a chat. he knows his place and all the time hes handled behaves like a docile gelding. Anyone can brush, touch, and handle him, and i frequently go wrap my arms around his big thick neck and mane for big horse hugs in the paddock. He may just be a little brown pony, but this little brown pony has come a long way, i am so proud of him & i love him dearly.

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSAry

2011-06-15T18:34:00.011+12:00

Wow without being to cliche " look how time flies", its been a year since the wild ponies first arrived in my stockyards, and what a year it has been. The skinny, hairy, scrawny creatures are hardly recognisable anymore. They have come along way, but i cant help feeling a little disappointed. I feel i could have done a lot more with them. Matai could be almost ready for a ridden career in the competition ring, and should be jumping etc by now. Well Fern it was a bit hard as shes been a mum up until the last few weeks. But i really feel the little wild stallion given his intelligence and trainable nature, and the fact he grown into a strong young horse could have been doing a lot more. But alas, the time to do this has eluded me, in fact i have been so busy i almost missed the fact that it had been a year since they got here. I had my competitions with by other horses, then all the other jobs on the farm, the horses i ride for other people, lesson to teach, basically all the stuff that earns me a living came first, the wild horses fell to the bottom of a very long list of things to do.

So here we are, 3 fantastic and fat wild horses, that are anything but wild. They are friendly, well adjusted social and happy horses. The only thing that now marks them as being from the wild, is the stallion long flowing 'wild' mane, his thick black hair that can not be tamed. So although im not quite where i saw myself being at this point my wild horses and I have still come along way.

So i thought being their 1 year anniversary i would do a profile on each horse, where they have come from, where they are now, and the changes that have occurred.

Starting tonight with Fern.

She wasn't the skin & bones case that the little brown stallion was. She came off the truck in pretty good condition. Although her big wormy/baby belly was deceptive, as she still had slightly jutting hip bones, and a neck that seemed to stick straight skywards out of her chest. But she definitely was a good strong sturdy and sensible girl, who happily tucked into her hay net on arrival, and shes been eating ever since.

The first time in our paddocks... she was a shaggy creature, suspicious and withdrawn in nature

But it has not been a completely smooth journey, there have been setbacks along the way. Fern came with a set of some of the worst hooves i have seen, a year later there is only 1 hole in a back foot that has not quite grown out completly , that remains of the cracked & brittle claws she had on arrival.

Then there was the night we came home to find my little grey pony hanging up side down in a fence....this cut on her front leg,the result of that. But this too has healed, only the faintest thin scar remains to show for that story.

Finally things with Fern started to changes, as did the seasons. With Spring she lost her winter woollies, and grew wider and wider and wider, as we watched and watched, waiting for the time when the foal would make an appearance. Finally when we thought she may just in fact pop,we had Sonny. This would have to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life, to have a once wild animal, walk up to me in the moonlight, and deliver her baby literally at my feet.

Fern was such an amazing motherand milk producer, that Sonny grew and grew into the fattest and healthiest foal we have ever raised, who just oozes vitality. She has been the most protective and loving mother, who showed true grief and heartbreak at the weaning and separation from her boy.

Yet time is still ticking away and Fern continues to change. She has been saddled and will soon be ridden, without the burden of a baby to care for, her anxiety and worries are gone, she is suddenly more carefree, sand chooses to interact more wiht both human and horses, and has become a bit of a smoochy social creature. The first horse waiting to be caught each morning, tucking into her feed and leaning into her daily grooming sessions, Fern is finally relishing in the life that domestication has given her.

My gray ray of sunshine

2011-06-11T18:34:00.005+12:00

In a week where all we have is rain mud and more rain, things on the farm become slightly unbearable. Especially this early in winter when you know condition are only going to get wetter and muddier, your looking at months of not being able to achieve anything....Its is horribly depressing.. But this week there was something to cheer me up.... in the brief 45minutes the sun showed its face one evening, i manged to do some work with Fern. She was saddled for the first time, not that you'd ever know it. She acted like shes been saddled all her life, no bucking, broncing, rearing, running, she just carried on like it was nothing out of the ordinary. In fact she was the tamest of all the horses I've ever saddled, nothing wild about this wild horse.

So in a week that i feel has been miserable and unfulfilling Fern has been my Gray ray of sunshine.

Blogger awards

2011-06-03T21:29:00.009+12:00

Well time heals all wounds, or lets you know you can live past the pain at least. Fern and Sonny have survived the weaning, they still call to each other occasionally, but the absolute desperation of their screams has ended. giving me a brief respite of a little peace and quiet, at least until the next one has to be weaned in a months time.

The wild stallion has become the most caring and patient big brother for little Sonny. They are two peas in a pod, the little brown weanling shadows the little brown stallion's every move, even picking up some of his mannerisms. Just shows how much animals learn from observing others, not just instinctive.

Fern has been one very sad girl, but today she seemed to find some light at the end of the tunnel. Galloping, bucking and kicking up her heals like never before. For the first time in probably her entire life, shes not struggling to survive, or raising a child, shes a single gal again. The transition for her hasn't been easy though, she has babysat and fussed over the other two foals, as if watching them will bring her own baby back. Every day shes left alone in the paddock, with the two babies, while all the other horses go to the barn for the day. She stands over them, takes them out grazing and basically mothers them for a couple hours each day, it seems her outlet for all those mothering instincts and hormones still runing through her. these foals don't mind being separated from their own mothers and seem to enjoy their days with Fern. Cant say id trust any of the other broodmares to watch over babies not their own.

Last of all I would like to thank Gail from At the Farm, for giving me a blogging award.

in exchange for getting this you are meant to nominate 5 more blogs to receive an award, so although there are heaps of great blogs out there these are the ones i have recently discovered and loved, not all of them are horsey related either.

1. Other things Amanzi a surgeon in South Africa, because it is well written, funny and a completely different set of shoes than the ones i walk in.

2. Girl on a mountain with a chicken because i read the about me blurb,and it was like reading about myself...except I'm not mad keen on goats, but cool stories and very interesting.

3. Sweet adventures of Sugar Belle because cooking is my therapy at the end of a hard week, i make pies though, and have no where near the patience and attention to detail to make the masterpieces this person does with cookies

4. Fugly horse of the day didn't like this at first, because i don't like the idea of just bitching about others non stop, but shes got some great content on here and some real tear jerking stuff, and is defiantly raising awareness of big issues within the horse riding world, so kudos to her. Reading all the comments are pretty amusing to.

5. Alaskan Arctic Expeditions because if i didn't have horses this would be my dream life, having sled dogs and traveling through the wilderness

Rules of the Award are that upon receiving, you thank the person that gave it to you. Then nominate 5 more and leave a message on their to tell blog to tell them of their award.

Remember Good Bloggers Pay it Forward

Playing god and killer stallions

2011-05-30T19:59:00.005+12:00

I don't like playing god....Don't worry i don't have a god complex, just that on the farm, someone has to make the tough decisions, which animal gets to live, which gets culled, when to separate mother and child. Who gets to stay and who will be sold. I would rather not do some chores, i hate having to catch a goose or chicken to be killed, who am i to say which should be killed for a dinner, and which deserves to go on to live another day... i plan to be absent the day the sheep, who i secretly am quite fond of, and who follows my horses around like there her flock, is to be killed.

This week's tough decisions, were choosing a goose to be made into a friends dinner and separating Fern, the wild horse and her foal, Sonny . Weaning, its always difficult, i never want to be the one to do it. Sonny no longer gets to be with his mother, no comforting warm milk to drink, no mother to calm him, watch him, stand over him, take him to the safest pasture or keep him out of the rain. his days of carefree bliss in the paddock without a care in the world are gone.

I think this is one of the hardest weaning, because not only is there a devastated weanling, there is also a very devastated mother. Fern has been the most devoted, most loving, most successful mother horse we have ever had. i know your not meant to put human emotion on animals, but Fern loves her child. while the other mares don't seem to mind there babies out of sight and away form them, she hates any separation from her darling boy. She keeps him close, and every time he wants milk, she stops and as Sonny got bigger, lifted her belly higher and higher so he could drink. in fact Fern was so good at producing milk for him, that Sonny has become the chubbiest, roundest,most well developed young horse we have ever had, it also earned Fern the nickname 'diary cow'.

But Fern really did take exceptional care of her baby. Always in the paddock they were together, she kept him close by, and they actually seemed to enjoy each others company, not the case with some other mare foal combo's we have here. If it rained she took him to shelter, if it flooded she took him to high ground, while he slept she stood over him, and every morning she would let him clean out her feed bowl before licking the last little bits out herself. Even more amazing was the fact that if they ever did get separated, Fern would give a certain loud neigh that i swear was her saying "stay put, I'm coming to find you!", and no matter what the other horses might be doing, or how far away he was, Sonny would not move a muscle until, Fern came bustling aournd the paddock to find him.

All this is over now, as Ferns big handsome boy has been taken away from her, i didn't want to do it to her, but weaning wasn't going to be happen by itself. I feel guilty every time i look and see her lonely vigil, as she keeps watching for him and pacing the fence line calling for her son and hoping to see him coming back down the drive to her. As if to say "my baby, my baby, where is my baabbbyy..." her heartwrenching screams echo'ed down the valley all night.

Usually, as my horses run in a big herd, of mares & foals, and a couple of my big riding horses, the kindest and most stress free way to wean, has to be simply to remove the mares, one at a time when the time comes. This leaves the foals with horses they know and a setting they have been in their entire life. They barely even seem to register there mothers absence. This didn't work for Sonny however. he like his milk, and is used to having it on demand, when ever he wants it. Finding himself without his mother, he galloped around checking every other horse in the paddock, desperatly looking to find a drink. In fact he got so pushy with one of the other foals, i was worried my stallion prospect, wold be left without his stallion parts intact. so i came up with a plan B.

Fern got to be back with her friends, and it would be Sonny that had to move. Horses need company, and weanling's especially benefit from having a good calm role model and companion during this stressful time. Weanling's also need good strong fences, as some will try anything to get back with their mothers. My plan B, was put Sonny in with the wild stallion. If the fences could keep Matai the stallion in, then they would keep Sonny in. It was also solving the problem of poor Matai's loneliness, and i new he'd set a good example for young boy to follow.

i know what people say about stallions, Ive posted about it before, and I'm still very strongly of the belief that any horse is what you make it out to be. If you treat your stallion like a wild savage, and never let him socialize, he probably will be an aggressive monster. But Matai has always been a well mannered social creature, in his days in the wild he would have run with a bachelor herd of males, so i very much doubted he would do anythign to harm Sonny.

He didn't, when i called him, leading Sonny behind me up to his paddock. He let out a great whinny of greeting, and came ruining to the gate to see us. Head to shoulder they both sniffed each other, Sonny reverting back to his shy self , tucking his tail and not really looking, and Matai carefully examining the newcomer with interest.

in the paddock together, Matai examined him further, checking between poor Sonny legs just make sure it was another male horse. that was it, as far as the wild stallion was concerned this newhorse was alright, and defantly no threat. Sonny went back to screaming for his mother and running the fence line. after a half hearted attempt to follow him, the wild stallion went back to his hay pile, and quietly watched the youngster, waiting for him to settle. Their was no display of aggression, no trying to establish dominance, just a calm acceptance of the new horse. So much for ferocious stallions.

Checking on them before i went to bed found a very subdued Sonny standing pressed right up against the stallion, literally with their bodies touching side by side in the dark, just like he would do his mother, they quietly grazed together in the dark. The wild stallion just looked content to have a friend again.

i took a few quick pics today. just to show what great friends they now are..

Sonny standing with the Stallion, both covered in mud in the afternoon sun. This is Matai's favorite spot, he stands in the bushes and from here surveys his realm and its coming and goiings

must be milk there somewhere??

Busy Busy Busy

2011-05-28T18:14:00.003+12:00

This week has been insanely busy. Just when i thought things would start to slow down around here, life seems to have notched up a gear and be churning along at warp speed. Top riders horse arrived, and low and behold he did leave it here after all. But before that we had floods (again), movie work, a boyfriend to see off overseas, and a whole farm to scrub clean, as well as all the other day to day chores of caring and riding horses. Oh and a poultry show to go to.... Chaos everywhere.

So the horse I'm to ride was to arrive on Friday or the weekend, the time was pretty vague. With all there was to do around the farm, i thought this was going to be just enough time to get everything 'ship shape' in time for the arrival. As well as that the boyfriend was to come up on Tuesday, it being his one week in the country before he was off overseas for the next regatta, he would add some much needed manpower to the jobs that needed doing around the farm, as well as getting to spend some time with him while he was here.....this is when things all started to fall apart....

The boyfriend arrived on Tuesday at midday as planned, he'd been here an hour, before the phone rang. When i answered the lady on the end of the line answered with " hey the job on the movie set has been moved forward to tomorrow are you still available?" SH$T!!!!! okay this job was a good one $500 for a days work, and a few of these jobs each year defiantly help supplement my income, plus there fun as you us uslly get to put on a costume get you hair and makeup done, and get taken a world away from life on the farm. But this week was not exactly ideal time to go down to the big city. could i fit it in?? after a brief discussion with the boyfriend, we decided i should do it, and come back to the farm Friday morning in time to finish putting sawdust in the stables...

This was a good plan until i found out i had to be at location at 5.15am, on location being 4 hour dive away. Meaning a drive down that night and a 4am wake up when i got down there. But somehow i managed, finishing riding, teaching my afternoon lessons, preparing the horses for my absence, packing my bags and getting in the car for the city by 6.00pm. The long suffering and much loved boyfriend drove us down, having just caught the bus that morning he spent 6 hours on the farm with me only to drive all the way back down to the city.

Movie job was easy, the early start was not, but by 9am id finished work, as the second half of the days shooting had been cancelled. All id done was run screaming through smoke and rubble, while the 'baddies' chased me. Not bad for 3 hours of work, and a nice little booster to my bank balance. It also meant that id get to spend the whole day with the boyfriend, bonus as time with him is precious and very hard to co-ordinate as we are both extremyl busy people with unusal schedules.

Later that night, while having dinner with his family, the phone rang again. "hey look i can drop that horse at your house tomorrow, I've got friends coming up your way, is this OK?" sh$t!!! i thought, but the words that came out of my mouth we "okay that's no problem, i look forward to seeing the horse". You don't complain about schedule changes, when you have world champions asking you to ride their horses, even their second string horses that apparently buck occasionally. Now i just had to figure out how to get home before the horse arrived..

So the next morning found me again driving home, along the winding state highway from the big smoke to my little farm. This time in pouring rain, and i mean pouring, to the point you can barely see out the wind screen. Halfway there i got the text from mum.
Place flooded, cant get in or out, stuck at home.
Excellent. So i had a horse on the way up, that i wouldn't be able to actually get to my property, this was not going to be a good look. I continued driving, with the miraculous hope that maybe it would stop, and the water would drop in time for the horses arrival...

No such luck, by the time i got home the road was almost closed, and our driveway was completely impassable, with as much as 10ft of water flowing over it in places, and the flat paddocks of the neighbors, completely under water. There was just no way i could get a car, let alone horse in, and besides the horse couldn't be dropped off because the truck would come to a dead end at the flood waters and be unable to turn around. I made the call, admitting that i couldn't actually receive the horse today, because unless it was a seahorse, i didn't have anywhere to put it. Luckily the guy understood, he had somewhere to keep it and the people would drop it off, flood waters allowing, the next morning. Then cursing my stupidity for wearing my city clothes home, i procedded to tramp my way in the rain,through a high bush track that wound alongthe back of the neighbors property, to a smaller a creek, that i jumped, and then make across the wet paddock to the house for the night.

Well it all ended pretty well, the horse got dropped off, the riders partner came along to show off the horse and give instructions for what they wanted done with it, he ended up riding the horse in, while i carried his two little toy dogs through the creek. ( i hate impractical dogs, although these were cute). I had to laugh though, after i had a ride on the horse, i turned the hose on to wash the animal down, and typical to my farm, not even a trickle came out, we were completely out of water. mud and floods and not a drop of water in the tank. Embarrassed i apologozed, mumbling a lame excuse about having to pump water and wash the horse later. Why this has to happen, when i try to make it look I'm running a professional stable, I'll never know. It was bad enough having to take the horse to the least muddiest patch of grass to ride, after slogging through need deep mud just to get in the gateway.

But they left the horse here, so i must have done something right. Its a gorgeous big buckskin, and expressive moving handsome fellow, who has become inseparable from the Shetland and the sheep in his first 24 hours on the property. Matai has tried desperately to meet him, putting on his most welcoming voice ( different from his 'stallion' voice he now uses to try and seduce mares). But big buckskin just ignores the little brown stallion across the fence, staying right behind the Shetland and the sheep.

Today i whizzed through the chores, rode horses, then packed me and the dog in the car by noon, and head to the annual poultry show. This is something we go to every year, usually with mum, but she happened to be away, so i took the dog instead. It is truly amazing to see how many shapes sizes and colours, chickens, ducks and pigeons come in. compared to horse showing poultry is much more affordable, some of the supreme champion birds would have little for sale signs on their cages. how much did they sell for? the lofty price of around $20 dollars, a horse would have about 3- 5 more zeros on the end of that sum, if they were that successful. I wouldn't help myself, even though i need more animals like a hole in the head, i cam home with a beautiful pair of Rhode Island Red chickens, and two little white ducks to add to our flock of birds already at home.

So i have neglected the wild horses, having done no more with them this week than throw hay over the fence. Sometimes it feels like I'm never going to get around to furthering there training, but hopefully with the chaos of the show season and this particurlarly busy week over, i will be able to do something more exciting than feed them.ill keep you posted....

competition training and panic

2011-05-23T18:58:00.002+12:00

Well the show season is over for another year. Now is the time when i get stuck into training, breaking in and schooling all the horses. As well as catching up on all the other farm work I have been neglecting.

In fact this week is a bit of a mad panic, someone important has asked me to train there horse. I'm thrilled it is an amazing opportunity, as the person is Olympic medalist, world champion and a bit of a big wig in the sport. As well a great horseman and trainer in his own right.

Its not my horse training skills that have got me worried, but the farm. While it works perfectly well for my own horses, its a little bit rough around the edges kind of place, even though its vastly improved from when we first arrived, we can only fix it up little by little. I mean it still doesn't have electricity, phone lines, and the driveway has a creek crossing through the middle of it. The stable while functional, are not flash, and the paddocks still have patches of gorse, not the immaculate manicured pasture you dream about. What if he takes one look at the place and takes his horse back with him??

fingers crossed it all works out, as the training i receive in exchange would help me unbelievably. Training horses from scratch and breaking them, taming wild horses etc, is a totally different ball game from competition riding.Some riders are great competition riders, but don't have the patience for training, some are great trainers but don't cope with the stress of competition. They are two very different aspects of the horse world, some riders can do both. I think the truly great riders who continuously produce horses horses to an international level are probably both. But not everyone is..

Training and taming horses, you can learn a lot just from doing it or watching people who know what they are doing, and experimenting yourself. Competition is different it gets to a level, where its not just about who can stay on a horse as it flies over jumps, or spins on a dime, or prances around a ring. Its not just natural ability that wins you ribbons, far from it. Ability gets you so far then you train, practice, learn, train and practice some more. unfortunately you cant get there on your own, you need lessons, advice and dedication. I know i can tame a wild horse, break it in, ride it and train it do jumping, do dressage,work cattle, lie down, bow or do any other trick, if i set my mind to it. I know i can train and compete a horse and be very competitive to a certain level. but the next bit if i want to get there, i will need help, if i want to be really good not just locally but nationally and above i better get the best training i can find, so i can learn what skills to practise and practise to make myself and my horse as good as i can possibly be ...

I think this is true in any sport these days. Even a sprinter doesn't just run fast, Its no good to just be able to run quickly in a straight line, you have to know all the techniques as well, so you maximise every little bit of your performance, because there are thousands of other people out there who can run just as fast. Horse sport is the same, thousands of people can sit on a horse well, thousands of horses can jump well, you got to learn the skills to perfect every aspect if you want to win the big stuff. Jumping poles in a gorse paddock at home only get you so far.....

in my round about way, I'm saying that this guy, in exchange for putting some training in his horse, is going to train me, as I'm in that point where i need that little but extra guidance just to push myself to the next level and get the most out of my performance. otherwise i might find myself years from now, still at the same level i am today, and if I'm going to do this horse thing i want to be good at it, not average. so again this week is a panic to get thing on the farm ship shape, in time for the arrival of trainer and his horse, i need this to work out....

days on the farm

2011-05-16T17:47:00.002+12:00

Well times does seem to be flying by. How is it already the middle of May??? Every night i collapse in my chair, and stare blankly at my computer screen. I mean to write updates, but every time i try to get my thoughts in order, they just seem to vanish a way in a tired haze. This week is the National Three Day Event, the last show of the season. After that hopefully my life will be somewhat less chaotic. Or at least i wont be traveling every weekend...

So the wild horses....

Matai, the last few days has been one sad stallion. Horses being herd animals do not like being alone, especially if they have grown up in a herd situation. Matai is no exception, and with his favorite and constant companion, Milo, gone to live somewhere else, the little wild stallion moped around the paddock, calling desperately to any horse o human he saw. He has been a lonely boy, standing in the corner of his paddock looking down the driveway, or across the farm, waiting for any sign of the return of his friend.

This sad display was to much for me today. I moved the Shetland pony, Coco, and his inseparable sheep companion, next door to Matai. at least he can be near another horse. Well you should have seen him, as soon as Coco arrived in sight, Matai lifted his head and came galloping to the fence, calling out in greeting as he came. Leaning carefully down over the fence, and the pony stretching his neck up as far as he could stretch, both horses snuffled there greetings, and reacquainted themselves. The sheep (who i cannot work out if its fearless or stupid) came to the fence as well, Matai never having seen a sheep before, eyed it wearily, but it then too, received the most delicate are careful sniff of introduction, as the stallion smelt it gently from nose to tail. Matai seemed to come to the conclusion that the funny looking creature may not be a horse, but a friend of coco's was going to be a friend of his.

So stallion, sheep, and Shetland are all good friends now. Matai is back to is usual good spirits, much happier for his having his old buddy Coco and his new lady friend, the sheep, nearby for company. In fact last i looked the sheep was dozing in the last afternoon light, sitting back against the fence, with Matai a few feet away standing with his head hanging low enjoying a little nap to. Coco however was doing what Shetlands do best and sucking as much grass down his throat like the little paddock vacuum that he is.

Fern and Sonny continue to learn new things. When i get back from nationals, it will be time to start breaking in Fern, as all that is now left to do is actually put a saddle on and rider her. Shes spends the days separated from Sonny now. Out of all the mares i think she is the only one to actually miss her child, and is always upset by the separation. Every evening only to happy to get her darling boy back. Calling to him and holding her tummy up as high as it will go, so her sonshine can get a drink as soon as he comes through the paddock gate.

Sonny on the other hand is only to happy in the mornings to follow the big horses to the barn, where he gets locked in a stable for the day. The draw card being his own bucket of weanling muesli, which in his world is the best thing ever, no sharing it with his mother or the other foals. He knows his stable and happily trots in their by himself each day, finds his bucket and sets to eating the soecial treat. Brushing is another pleasure in his life, and although inclined to be slightly shy, he happily stands still for anyone to come in his stable and brush him all over. Even politely picking up any of his feet if asked. By evening though, he is desperate for his mother again, and gallops back down to the paddock well ahead of the other horses. Fern will always be there waiting at the gate for him to come back. Its always a very happy reunion.

Stallions

2011-05-11T15:10:00.005+12:00

There is a lot of myth, legend, tradition, and falsehoods surrounding stallions. From vicious creatures, unpredictable and fierce. To noble animals, courageous in battle, or the stallions of movies and storybooks, that against all odds protect their humans and go on to win races or save lives.

As far as handling and riding they intimidate and awe, otherwise sensible horse people. In the competition ring a stallion does bring that little bit of ' wow power' and 'x-factor' to any performance, that lacks from a geldings or a mares. But they also scare the crap out of a lot of people to, excuse my french.

Sometime they are made out to be the baddies of the horse world, dangerous, unpredictable, killing foals they don't think our their own, fighting with other horses to the death. in fact in the correspondence course I'm doing right now, the theory work clearly states, "stallions on no occasion are to paddocked, or allowed near other horses, except mares when breeding, even in this occasion, they must be in control of experienced horsemen". While i was in Europe, we went to a barn, where most sport horses stallion are sent to be tested, pre-trained and assessed, for their stallion licensing, and performance testing. Their were 200 stallions at this stable, and not a single paddock. A lady i was with asked why this was the case to which she got the answer "do you know nothing? we would have to have a separate paddock for each stallion, and even then they couldn't be allowed to see each other, as they would most likely jump the fence and try to kill the other horses, theses horses are the best of the best, we could not take such risks!!!!"

I think what the guy was really saying was that these horses were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each, and they wouldn't risk the horses physical well being for the sake of their mental health. The horses, some of them living their whole lives their as breeding stallions, were never allowed out of a stable, arena or horse walker. His reply was funny though, because he may have believed what he was saying, contrary to opposing evidence in front of his eyes. These stallions that would supposedly rip each other to shreds, lived in stables with full length bars, on all three sides, so they could see all the other horses, next to them, and all the way down the aisle. These stallions would work in an arena with as many as 10 other stallions at the same time. If they ever got the opportunity to be close to each other in the saddling area, it wasn't ripping into each other, but a mutual grooming that took place. Most of them dozed pressed up against the bars of their stables, as to be close to there neighbor, in the next stable. Basically what i mean was most of the time these weren't savage beasts, the grooms even talked about the deep bonds some of the horses formed while they were there.

Just to add, this guy who said that the stallions would rip each other to pieces, also went on to say that in his opinion "women are not really suited to working with stallions, i do not let my female staff ride the horses out of the arena, as they are just not strong enough to control the horses outdoors, if something were to go wrong it would take a mans strength to control a stallion" obviously me and this guy were never going to get along as he was in my opinion an arrogant sexist pig!! Matai may not be as big as a warmblood, but I'm a female and it take none of my strength at all to control him, i just use my brain and don't let him get out of control to begin with.

Now if you had let a few mares loose on that premises, and opened all the doors to the stallions stables, I'm sure all hell would break loose, no denying that. But in more normal settings i think stallions can act like normal horses, if you know what your doing, and keep your wits about you.

They are just horses after all. In fact i know so many cases of stallions being just fine living with other horses, obviously they will live with mares in a herd or breeding situation just fine, but there are other cases. Matai, for example, lives with Milo the new forest pony gelding, hes also lived with the Shetland pony, and theses days, Sonny the weanling, is put out with both Milo and Matai, during the day now, for a bit of 'boy time', and to ease him into the weaning. Matai has never tried to 'rip him to pieces', put him in his place, yes, with a nip or push, but that's as aggressive as it gets. In fact more often, you find Matai leaning over the fence as the foals walk to the barn, scratching and grooming them, or sniffing noses, if they come over to say hi.

My old boss, kept his stallion with a 30 year old pony for company. Many people will put young colts in with an older stallion, to teach them some manners. I also know people who run a whole group of mature stallions together, and they function just as a bachelor herd would in the wild. Given enough room, and the right conditions, i don't see a problem with stallions being kept together at all. In fact somewhere recently, i read an article about a study done in Europe, that proved, that even stallions that had lived there whole lives isolated from other horses could adapt to living in a group. They just stabled them side by side an slowly weaned them into living in the paddock together.it took a few days to sort out a pecking order, but this never escalated into fighting, in the end there was no problems

Like most things, there is going to be bad individuals, a rogue, or bad egg. But these are not the general rule. There will also be thousands of horses, and yes stallions that are aggressive, and unpredictable, but most of these horses, are just exhibiting man made behaviours, from a artificial environment. Not even taught basic manners and handling skills, some of these horses, are boxed up 24/7 only allowed out for breeding duties. We wonder why they turn into testosterone fuelled monsters??? I know of one place where the breeding stallion, is locked in his box all day then when it is time to collect semen from him, they just open the door and he runs down a raceway to the 'dummy', does his job, and only then is calm enough to handle. It doesn't need to that way at all.

You can see horsemen riding stallions, working mares in season from there back. Matai is very well behaved to be around. There are competition studs, that are just fine out and about with mares. Basically there are thousands of great, well- behaved, socialised stallions out there. Just like there are some people who think normal horse behaviour is bucking, biting, and trampling their handler, because they haven't understood it can be any different.

yep there will be some wild stallion out there that drives off or kills foals that aren't his own, but their will be plenty more that care about all the babies. They are entire horses, with all their hormones intact, and as Matai's little foray showed they are going to try and get to mares given the chance, but it doesn't mean they are bad or aggressive by nature.

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JKKWF0ZUGk i found this on another great blog today, which is actually got me thinking about the whole stallion thing.....have watch, apparntly the stallion the guided the foal back to its mother and safety....

oh and heres the blog i saw it on well worth a look http://http://blueskiesandgentlebreezes.blogspot.com/2011/03/stallion-and-foal.html

the good the bad and the annoying

2011-05-10T19:38:00.002+12:00

I had a good weekend, a good weekend in horrible wet, muddy conditions. My eventing horse Jet, and i won our competition, the last one before the national three-day event, next week. So pretty damn happy about that. I cannot even describe what a rush it is to cross country on that horse.

But as it always seems, you cannot enjoy a moments celebration around here without something ruining it. Just as i watched the results go up on the scoreboard, my mother rang to inform of the latest disaster on the farm.

Matai, the stallion has been nothing but angelic since his arrival from the wild. We have had no problems with him trying to get to mares, or breed or anything like that. Until this weekend, when i wasn't here.

I thought id left him somewhere stallion proof and safe, behind good fencing. Apparently my mother though, didn't quite get around to checking him on Saturday, and by Sunday morning she noticed he had pushed ( or a gate had been left open) a gate open, gone across the fence in the next paddock that was down, through a creek, over another fence ( although there was some flood damaged places where he could have just stepped over), up a very steep hill and through dense bush, and arrived in the paddock, with my lovely Thoroughbred broodmares, foals, Fern, and my dressage mare. Where he was spotted hanging around a very in season bay mare.

Fantastic. Although, i love Matai dearly, i don't not want any mix breed babies of his. Especially not from mares I'm saving to breed to lovely sport horse stallions in the spring.

But apparently he was a good boy, coming down the hill with the mares, and allowing himself to be caught and quietly led away, from the females, who were acting like low class tramps and doing there best to distract and entice him back.

Him and his paddock mate were then transferred to the stables to await my homecoming later that night. I was not happy to be having to deal with a rogue stallion, after a long weekend in the mud, and a four hour drive home. Especially after he ruined my joy at wining!

But as i walked up to the barn, i heard this little voice call out from the darkness, the same welcoming note which he always gives me. His head silhouetted in the darkness and ears pricked forward in greeting. It was hard to stay mad, after all he probably thought he'd been doing a fantastic job of doing just what a stallion should. instead he got a hug in the darkness, and a whispered scolding in his ear, as he stood and snuffled the back of my shirt.

Part of me thinks this is always the way, just a few days ago, i was telling the vet what a great little stallion he was, and how we had no problems with him trying to get to mares. I'm eating my own words right about now. next Tuesday, we will be having another vet come out, to administer a little injection to all the trampy mares, to ensure there will be not little Matai's running around next year. There will also be some serious thinking by me as to whether one little stallions testicles still need to be attached to his little brown body for much longer....

To be honest, Matai is not very big, and all my mares are very large, Fern apparently stayed well away from him, probably her wild instincts kicking into play there, so i doubt any successful breeding actually took place, but better to be safe than sorry i think

Vet day

2011-05-05T19:52:00.003+12:00

"How on earth do you get your horse trailer out that drive?" the chirpy blond vet greeted me as she hoped out of her Ute in front of the barn.

Our driveway is a conversation starter that's for sure, usually the first thing anyone comments on when they first arrive at the farm, and today was no exception. The driveway in question is a little bit rough to say the least, last weekends massive rain, have deteriorated it further. We have a little creek crossing that you have to drive through followed by a windy uphill stretch squeezed between overhanging trees, with steep drop offs on each side. It really does have its challenges. First timers to the farm, usually chicken out at the creek and come the rest of the way by foot. So full credit to the vet for braving the drive.

Today was the big vet day, the foals were all getting there first vaccination and general health checks. The wild stallion, Matai, was getting his first horsey health check and jabs as well. Big day, and a good check to see just how well behaved all my horses really are. Vets with there poking, prodding, stethoscopes and needles, are good at bringing out any little loopholes you'd missed in your horses training.

We have three foals this year, Sonny, wild Ferns baby. Satisfaction, a little sport horse colt, the youngest of the three, and last of all Hope, another sporthorse filly, that is also the sister to the beautiful Viva, that i lost last year. I had all the mares, tied and lined up in the afternoon sun, the foals just roaming, and causing mischief as they do, when the vet drove up.

A new vet, which I'm always a bit suspicious of at first,but got thumbs up in my book. Satisfaction, dozing in the sun nearest her car, was first. Little Satty, is the quietest and also the best looking of the three babies, hes like a big fluffy teddy bear. We joke that he is all beauty but no brains. The Vet walked up, looked in his mouth,listened to his heart, guts, and he just stood there, enjoying all the attention, a quick jab and he was all done. Defiantly the easiest of the lot. Next was Hope, she again just stood there, although i did put a halter on her, as shes had a few jabs before. She then hung around like a bad smell, trying to get the vet to itch her bum, as the vet was administering the next horse. Hope is defiantly the long legged diva of the bunch, walking off in a sulk when she was ignored.

Sonny is a big big boy, solid, and the oldest of the three babies, he's far more developed. He is now at the stage where he is leaving his baby days behind, and instead tries to put on a brave face, even though he is the shyest of the three, and the least comfortable around strangers. Haltering him, he stood there, very still, eyes wide, but determined to be brave, as the vet and I, leaned over him chatting away. He kept an eye on his mother who was standing near by, as if to check that she was still OK and that he was doing the right thing. "god his little heart beating a million miles an hour" exclaimed the vet, i knew it was just that he was a little nervous, but the vet fooled by his good behaviour, checked Fern, his mother to see what her heart was doing. She was normal, and happy enough to be checked out. After Sonny, getting a thorough check, she was satisfied.

Next was the jab, and that did cause him to do a little jump, meaning a second attempt had to be made, he stood there very wide eyed and tense, while the vet to her credit, did a great job of desensitizing him and rubbing him, so the second time he just stood there and accepted the injection. Poor boy he did have the sweetest most concerned expression on his face, but got lots of scratches and exclamation over his bravery.

" Oh yea this is my very wild stallion" i said as the vet came out into the paddock, where i was standing, with my arms around Matai's neck. "haha yea i can tell, he looks pretty wild" vet replied. Said stallion was just standing dozing in the sun. As i slid the halter on, the vet checked him over. Looking at his teeth, we discussed his history, how he came from the wild, his age and his general temperament. She was impressed, commenting on his wonderful nature, and by his teeth confirming my estimate that he was about four years old.

"well he's a picture of good health now, and that temperament of his, is just amazing. You've done some pretty good work with that one." vet mentioned as we left the paddock.

Awesome. That is compliment enough. Healthy and well behaved happy horses, i must be doing something right.

Amazing photography

2011-04-30T14:10:00.004+12:00

I don't know about you, but i think this is a pretty amazing picture....

Back in February at the National Kaimanawa Show, i happened to see a woman wandering around with a camera. At the time i didn't know who she was, or that she was in fact a professional photographer. I just wanted some photos of the stallion, to record the moment of his first show, and being there by myself i couldnt take the pictures, so i sucked up the courage and asked her if she wouldn't mind taking a few snaps and possibly emailing them to me....

It must have been my lucky day, because the photographer turned out to Jan, of Jan Maree Photography , and a few weeks later the most gorgeous images arrived in my inbox.

Matai and me.....

Jan, is not just any old photographer, not only has she won numerous awards, but she was also the official photographer of the 2010 Kaimanawa Wild Horse muster, at the Waiouru army base on the central plateau in New Zealand. The same muster from which Matai and Fern came. The images she captures are absolutely breathtaking, her passion for the horses really shows through.

It was two images from the muster that won at the prestigious NZIPP Ibis Awards. Four of her photos are also printed in the recently released book 'The Horse in New Zealand'. Not only that a percentage of the profit from the sales of Kaimanwa wild horse photographs on her website, gets donated to the same organisation from which i adopted my wild horses, the Kaimanawa Wild Horse Welfare Trust.

It was amazing talking to Jan and listening to her stories of getting right up close and photographing these horses in the wild, when they are still running free from human interference. Not only does she take photos that show the love, friendship, power and awe these horses inspire, Jan has her own kaimanawa horse, so knows first hand just how special they are.

Please check out her website and all the photos of the wild horses, as the photos on this blog do not do her near enough justice, as they are ever so slightly distorted when i upload them. Also if you want your own, or your animals portraits, or a fantastic wedding photographer please click the link below and see her work for yourself

http://www.janmareeart.co.nz/

+64 236 8553

email jan@janmareeart.co.nz

To look at her photos of the 2010 muster you can go either to the KWHWT or to Jan's page on her website that is specifically for the Kaimanawa horses http://http//www.janmareeart.co.nz/Fine+Art/Kaimanawa+Wild+Horses.html

See if you can spot Fern and Matai in the muster! 100 points to whoever can, as i have tried and just cant decide for myself if its them or not.

surely not more rain

2011-04-28T18:26:00.002+12:00

I thought we'd had our fair share of flooding in the last 12months, apparently not. Heavy rain, and warnings of flash flood was today's forecast. Fantastic.

I'm not going to argue with the weatherman, as i stood in the gathering darkness, and pouring rain, with water trickling through ever seam of my now not waterproof raincoat, i did dearly wish the weatherman had been wrong.

Why is it the the way of the world that it seems to throw me challenges in fading light and wretched weather. Nothing ever goes wrong on beautiful sunny days, but throw in weather warnings and the chance of flash floods, life will always chuck in a couple more challenges just to make everything that much more exciting.

On the weekend we had some heavy rains, which managed to wash out and snap the fence along the back side of the farm, excellent. This happened to be the border of the stallions paddock, and although we moved him onto a new paddock, one fence connected to the fence that was down, and while still intact, didn't have full tension on the wires.

now Matai has been in that paddock all week no problems. There is still an electric wire around the top, which should of kept him in. But alas, the fencing unit broke, so the electric fencing was off. But Matai is an angel and usually very good with fencing. Of course though not today.

I went off to ride the horses, that i ride off-property for clients, and to pick up a new fencing unit. It was a bitter afternoon, riding in the cold rain on spooky horses, that weren't even mine.Needless to say i by the time i got home, i wasn't pleased to find a little brown stallion standing nonchalantly on the other side of the fence next to the rapidly rising stream.

Now this wouldn't be so bad but there is no gate to where the stallion was standing, he had i assumed climbed through the fence as no wire were broken, into an area where we never have stock, the fence is their for the sole purpose of keeping animals away from the stream.

So how to get him back?? there were two options, either walk him up the rapidly rising stream in the dark, or try and get him to go back through the fence... The stream is pretty high in places, and trying to negotiate my way with a horse through deep spots and submerged logs, didn't sound like fun, so i decided on the fence option.

Haltering matai, i then pointed him at the fence, and hoping for a miracle, gave him the single to go forward. He took one look at the fence directly in front of his face and turned gave me a look that obviously said 'no comprehendo'. I tried everything, holding the wires as high as i could against the tension and trying to guide him under with my other hand, he tried as hard as he could to figure out what i was asking, but we were at stalemate, he had no idea what on earth the crazy women in the rain was asking him to do...

Standing there soaked and gumboots slowly filling with water,I literally wanted to scream in frustration, not at the horse, but just at life and the weather gods in general. Why was i always, a 22yr old girl, stuck on the farm alone, in the rain, in the dark, with problems, broken fences and horses to take care of?? My next thought was to prop the fence up with boards high enough so Matai could easily walk under.

so i started off, ducking back under the fence, lumping along in my water filled gumboots. I hadn't gone 5metres, when i heard the wires stretch, and turned to see the wild stallion, push the wires up and walk right under the fence back to the safe side. Huh, well that was easy, why he couldn't figure that i before i will never know. Matai safely back where he needed to be i recaptured him and his paddock mate, taking them away from the stream and to the safely of the barn for the night. Problem solved, now as long as my house doesn't wash away in the night, i will just have to fix the fence in the morning..

I wish that was it, it was completely dark and pouring by the time i got inside, after putting covers on the other 10 horses, locking the sheep and the pony in the shed together, i had to rescue my mothers new former battery hens, who have about the same amount of common sense as Paris Hilton, and were to be found sitting in the middle of their coop on the ground in the rain. At least they are sweet girls and all i had to do was life them into the shed. Sometimes though days like today on the farm, feel like a very bad day at the office.

of orca whales and easter eggs

2011-04-25T14:13:00.005+12:00

Its been a good Easter. Happy Easter!! to all my readers, I'm so excited to have 50 followers, it amazing to know that, this many people actually visit my blog and are interested in my wild horses.

Although Easter wasn't particularly beautiful weather in my neck of woods, being autum down here and all,it was spent in great company, with close family friends visiting the farm, for what turned into an all day brunch. The wild stallion, paddocked next to the drive, welcomed everyone onto the property by coming to the fence to say hi, and making himself available to any who might have wanted to pat and scratch him. these holidays are really about family, Friends, and catching up to those people who play important parts in your life. I even helped a good friend and neighbor set up his own blog, so he to can contribute to the world of blogging, check out his blog to http://almostcertifiable.blogspot.com/

But on this holiday, it was the animals that got me thinking. Holidays like Christmas,Easter thanksgiving,Valentine's day, they are about family, friends,love, kindness and sharing. Those things that make us human, but these are not solely human characteristics. Compassion, sharing, love, kindness and companionship are all throughout the animal world. Not restricted to humans and a handful of domestic species. All social animals, seek out companionship, whether in a herd, flock, pack, or maybe just staying with a mate. Most mammals and many other species choose not to be alone. You only have to watch mother animals, or own a pet to know that animals feel love. we see remarkable stories on TV about wild animals, seeking out companionship with people, and think 'wow how extraordinary But are these the exceptions, or are they just the normal behavior of animals in extraordinary situations?

Long after everyone went home yesterday, i was blobbing, scrolling channels on the tv, when i happened to come across the story of Luna, the lonely lost Orca, of Nookta Sound, on the west coast of Vancouver Island in Canada. Luna ended up orphaned in Nookta Sound without his pod, at only two years of age, he survived for a further four years, before finally being hit by a tugboat propeller and dying. In those four years he sought companionship, coming to visit recreational boat users, seeking socialization and interaction, even playing fetch with pieces of bark, with one of the researchers. Long story short, no one could agree, lots of government bureacracy and indescision, on what to do with Luna, so he was left unprotected. Some researchers desperate to help the little whale,filmed their experiences with him, and tried to protect the aniamal that so desperately didn't want to be alone. Tragically it was while the filmmaker was having his boat fixed and was not there to keep Luna from danger, that the whale was killed. The movie 'Saving Luna' is defiantly recommended to watch, or visit http://www.reuniteluna.com/ for more imformation

Ok so while this is an extreme case, day to day things like this happen all the time. Orca are extremely social animals and form tight bonds, usually staying within their family group their whole lives. I think no social animal wants to be alone, without their own kind they seek companionship in any form they can. Is a lonely whale choosing to hang out with people, any different really, from humans choosing to take cats and dogs into their homes and families as companionship?

Certainly no herd animals, or humans for that matter are completely happy alone. You see this all the time on the farm. We got given two sheep a few months ago, unfortunately one got in the garden and ate all the rhubarb and died, leaving one sheep alone. Not really thinking of the sheep i put the Shetland pony in its paddock, really just to restrict the ponies diet than anything else. Well a week or two later, i moved the pony to keep another horse company, the next morning the sheep was missing, i searched and searched, no sheep, it didn't answer to its call for food, it was gone.

well it turns out i had overlooked it hiding at the back of a old dog kennel in it paddock, thinking it would come out eventually i left it, three days later the sheep had not left the dog house, not to eat or drink, it just sat in their. by this time i figured it was either sick or stuck. In i crawled, dragged the now very skinny sheep out and examined it. It wasn't sick, and it definitely wasn't stuck, as the second i let it go, it was straight back into the dog house. For the rest of the day it stayed there. in the evening i despaired and put the pony back in the pen. The sheep was out like a flash, straight over to the pony, and promptly started making up lost time on the eating front. The sheep and the pony have been inseparable ever since, the pony not as keen on the sheep, more tolerating than seeking friendship, the sheep though is completely dedicated to the pony. never out of site, it calls out , and will return to the dog house if the pony is taken away, anywhere i lead the pony the sheep follows....

The last of this years calves, now two large weaners are no different, if paddocked with horses, they will hang out with the horses. For weeks they hung with the stallion following him endlessly around the paddock, he at the time was alone, so the wild stallion adopted the cows, and guarded and watched them just as he would his own group of mares, although thankfully he did not try to breed with them.

Even our two wild ducks, that we raised this year, and are definatly not very domesticated at all, every night fly into sleep amongst the geese rather than be alone, no matter that the geese mostly pick on them, mean friends are apparently better than no friends in the big wide world.

The wild stallion and his paddock mate, always choose to come follow you around the paddock, or graze nearby if your working in their, its not as simple as saying they just want food or scratches. As they are never fed in the paddock, and they know this, sometimes they don't even seem to want attention, just would rather have company than be alone.

Our cat is constantly pestering any animal for attention, human, dog, or horse. Many mornings i find her in the barn walking along the stable, rubbing cheek to cheek with Matai, or arching back against the horses legs during the day as i work. In fact much to my dismay, she spends her days in the dirt between the horses legs snoozing in the sun, rather than walking to the house and her cat bed, which she only uses when her humans are in the house.

i could go on and on, there are so many examples. You could argue away all these behaviours as anomalies or survival instincts or any other number of reasons. Yes pack,herd behaviour may to begin with, started as a survial stratergy, but we have evolved a huge range of emotions and needs over millions of years to go with this staergy, that makes up the creatures of todays planet. But basically, i think, when it comes down to it, we may all speak a slightly different language, but humans and animals, we are not so different, we all want the same things really, food,water, shelter and companionship. Sometimes any Friend, is better than none at all...

Happy Easter Everyone, remember all your great friends and family out there...

We Won We Won!!!

2011-04-21T18:35:00.003+12:00

My little wild stallion is a winner. The wild brown pony from the mountains,got his picture in our national magazine, even a little write up about him too......

Okay, it might not be as exciting as I'm making it sound. There is a competition each month, to see who has done the best job, rehabilitating , a sick, injured, neglected or reconditioned a skinny horse. I thought Matai fit the build pretty well, as he has definately been rehabilitated and looks nothing like the horse that arrived all those long months ago.

Anyway, apparently the editor of the magazine thought so too. Matai won the May edition, of the competition called TuffRock Transitions. Meaning we get some fantastic TuffRock products, valued at $111. A 1.8kg tub of non-medicated poultice, and 1L of conditioner plus to feed to Matai. YAHHHH!!!. i have actually never used their products but friends of mine rave and rave about them, so I'm really excited to receive mine in the mail! TuffRock website here if you want to find out more about their products.

Here are the photos that won me the competition .....

The first one, from Matai's 1st week with us, straight from the wild. The second photos, was from the Kaimanawa show in February, 8 months after muster.

I thought id put this photo in today's post too, because i don't think the other one quite shows how skinny he was, as he had a bit of pot belly from worms, that slightly hid his true condition when you see him side on in a photo. He was pretty damn skinny!

Thankyou to NZ Horse & Pony Magazine, and Tuff rock for the choosing Matai as the winner, i cannot wait to get my prizes in the mail!!

Good horses are like good food

2011-04-16T18:43:00.004+12:00

My life is pretty much horses, horses and more horses. I work my ass off from dawn until dusk, riding and teaching and taking care of horses just to break even. Then on the weekends i go off competing. Balance is hard sometimes. But there is one other thing i have time for and enjoy, cooking.

I'm not going to lie, i make a pretty darn good lemon meringue pie and yummy Mexican with my own home made tortillas, in all honesty i think these two dishes are the only reason my boyfriend puts up with all the time i spend horsing around. I love making my own pickles, chutneys, jams, and am currently addicted to my homemade Hot chili and capsicum jelly. For me there is something just so satisfying in making a meal, or baking a pie, or bottling my own garden produce. Something rewarding, in making something that everyone else can enjoy, its instantly gratifying with baking and cooking.

You start with a recipe, clear cut instructions. you add a certain amount of ingredients, in a certain order, and mix a set way. You put it in the oven, cook for a clear amount of time, then have the satisfaction of having something you made to eat, or give as a gift, or feed someone else. It is instantly rewarding, and to me relaxing and satisfying

With horses the results of your work can take, day,weeks, months usually years before you have something to show for your time. Think about it you break a horse in, ride it, train it, eventually if your like me, take them to competitions. Your looking at about a year to that point. To go through the levels of competition, will take years and years, if you get there at all. You have personal achievements. It is defiantly rewarding, but you work harder and the results are sometimes less obvious and take a lot longer to come around.

Their is no exact recipe for training a horse, i spend a lot of my time perfecting the technique, learning more, and wondering if I'm on the right track. There is no set preparation or "cooking" time, some horses will take a long time to learn certain lessons, while another will breeze through learning a new skill instantly. As far as ingredients, like cooking, the better the ingredients (training) you put in usally the better the end product will be.While there is an order to how you should train a horse, like mixing dry ingredients before adding wet, when it comes down to the tiny nuances of training, the recipes starts to get very vague and it comes down to an instinctive feel to make sure it all comes together in the end. Also like cookbooks there are many horse training manuals, with different recipes for the same thing, and it takes a bit of experimenting to see which method works well for you and gives you the best end product. It can be a bit of a mine field to begin with, a lot of guess work, patience, practice,experimenting and dubious results, before you get the perfect pie (or horse) to show for your efforts.

The point of all this, my wild horses are in that stage, where your just mixing everything together, if you were baking a cake,someone would come look in the mixing bowl and all they would see is mushy wet liquid at this stage. The physical differences are huge, they look completely unlike the horses that arrived almost a year ago. But they are not yet a baked cake.

Its that boring stage where you slog on teaching little things, the stallion getting more comfortable with ridden work, turning better, moving off the leg, refining the aids. Fern is just starting to learn all the groundwork in preparation to being ridden in the near future. There is not any exciting achievements to tell of, there are definitely day to day break throughs, that i am aware of, but to anyone else would be nothing awe inspiring. They are both going great, learning quickly and easily and are basically fantastic horse to work with. But defiantly still in the mixing stage, not yet a beautiful iced cake that you can proudly display to all you friends.

Beauty is in the movement

2011-04-11T18:24:00.004+12:00

There is beauty in movement. i went to watch the ballet, when it came to town. This is not usually my thing, but i went a long anyway to see what it was like. I was blown away, such power and grace, even though it was only the young and inexperienced performers of our national ballet, they were still simply amazing. Beautiful as they danced. There performances transformed them and captivated the audience. Because what struck me most, from my front row seat, is that when they were'nt moving, they were'nt beautiful. The lead ballerina who looked like a lithe fairy as she danced across stage, was plain featured and gawky when she wasn't moving. The lead male dancer, short and stocky, looked anything but, as he did the most amazing leaps and bounds high into the air. It was the way they moved that made them beautiful, graceful, athletic, and captivated the audience.

Having returned from a horse show on the weekend, the long drive home gave me time to think, and i came to the conclusion that the same is true of horses. Not every horse is beautiful, yet to see a horse jump around of show jumps, dance through a dressage test, they become majestic graceful and powerful. Just like human dancer the way they move and how the hold themselves is what can captivate the audience.

when i worked in a dressage stable, i was lucky enough to see horses come in as plain as plain could be, some had conformation flaws, were fat, some were not even particularly athletic. yet i watched them through their training become more and more beautiful. Correct work developed muscles that hid most flaws in build, as they changed they way they moved, they looked more athletic, there head carriage changed them from plain to proud looking. By the time they got to Grand prix, you would watch them go around the arena and they would look every inch the super star. The guy i worked for had a real knack for turning something ordinary into the extrodinary. As soon as they were back standing in the stable, the transformation ended, they would go back to normal looking horses.

i watched horses jumping this weekend, galloping around the cross country course, you would see a horse, and be blown away by it sheer power and agility. Yet seeing the same horse in the stable area, it wouldn't look any different to the horse next to it. There was even a Kaimanawa crossbred, competing in the same class as me. it was a small nimble little thing, yet looked, athletic and handsome as any other horse to see it out jumping.

I find the same with my own horses. The wild stallion looks like a small brown pony, quite unremarkable, to see him standing in the barn. Yet today when i finally got around to working him, (for the first time in weeks) he looked anything but plain. He grows about two inches as he trots around, his movement making him looked poised and powerful, and his head carriage and that long flowing mane give him the proud look of a stallion. I'm not the only one to notice this, family and friends who have all rolled their eyes at my 'wild project pony' have changed opinions once they have seen him move. Not that his movement is that amazing, just his over all presence changes while hes in action. He is beautiful in movement.

Not just humans and horses, but even my lovable and timid Lucy,the dog pound dog, becomes beautiful to see her in action, running and leaping across the paddock. Movement transforms the the ordinary into something more magical. Look at the gymnasts you see at the Olympics, the runners, the dressage horses, the eventers, dancers, and athletes of all kinds. There is beauty in what you do, and something beautiful in seeing anybody move with power poise and grace. Not all of us are lucky enough to be born looking like supermodels, but we can all strive to do something beautifully. Trust me those horses and riders that are jaw droppingly beautiful to watch dance round the arena, are just like you and me the rest of the time.

Sad goodbyes

2011-03-28T21:05:00.005+13:00

I remember like it was yesterday, when the tiniest, most angelic looking buckskin baby was born on our farm. Her birth was kind of special, she was her mother's first child, and her mother wasn't the smartest cookie in the jar, for all that she was the sweetest most mellow mare on the farm. When she was about to give birth, she managed to find the steepest part of the paddock,and just stood there obviously flustered, she never lay down,the foal just slid out, plopping to the ground. While the mare still confused, just walked away to graze.

we called to her and the sweet and confused palomino, walked back to sniff at the wet slippery pile of legs steaming on the ground. She looked at it with an expression "oh look a baby! how did this get here?" and suddenly realising her job, and maternal instincts kicking in, began to lick the infant clean.

But this mare had given birth on the side of a very steep hill, the foal feeling life and warmth, it wanted to stand and get milk. Usually these first crucial moments of mare and foal bonding, i just watch from the sidelines, nature is usually pretty good at sorting things out on her own. But i watched this wee foal, as it rolled, somersaulted and finally tumbled down the hill, again and again, i couldn't stand by anymore. With some human intervention from my mother and I, the foal was carried back up to a flatter a spot, where it finally mastered its legs and drank. But after its tumbling entrance into the world, this little filly would always be our little Tumble, and the name stuck.

Tumble she has always remained to us, affectionately shortened to tumble bumble, tum tums, or tumble bug. the little fine featured buckskin filly, grew into a beautiful sooty dapple grey. She didn't grow that much though, she was meant to be a horse for me, but never grew past pony height. In the scheme of things this worked out well, as at least it meant i wasnt tempted to keep her, as i do have to sell some, to survive. Well to be honest, i was tempted, but couldn't justify keeping her.

Tumble has played her own part in the Wild Horse Project to. She was Fern's very first friend, the horse i paddocked with her to help her settle into her new life. Because Tumble has always been the calmest, sweetest and most sensible natured equine on the property.

Later it was Tumble, that accompanied the wild stallion on his adventures. Galloping along the beach, climbing sand dunes, and exploring forests. She was his constant companion, mature and sensible beyond her young years, leading the stallion around all the new places.

So now almost five years from that night Tumble rolled down the hill . She has sold. I'm sad, it was inevitable, but when i drop her off to her new home on Friday, she will no longer be my Tumble bumble, but the pony of a new and very happy 12yr old girl, there will definitely be a tear in my eye!

being the best you can be is always something to aspire to

2011-03-25T10:03:00.005+13:00

Its raining again, so I'm reduced to sitting inside feeling useless. Usually i ride in the rain, but after three days of the nasty stuff, even my most surefooted horses are slipping around like there on skates, so every ones having a day off. It been weather wise, one of the strangest 6 months, i don't like what all this wet weather means for the coming winter.. But on another topic..

I went to the ballet the other night, I'm not a huge dance enthusiast, but i love to watch anything where someone has pushed themselves to the limit of physical ability and strives to be the best they can be, it really inspires me in what i do. My brother, just competed in his first world championships at age 16, in his chosen sport, the work he put in, hours, driving, everything he gave up to push himself to the top, inspired me. I would go watch some his training with a guy who was a multi world champion himself, the work they did, always left me wanting to push myself that little bit harder. There is something so special in watching any athlete push themselves, that drive, seeking perfection, pushing their body, watching someone at the top of any discipline is to me truly amzing. Because i know how hard it is to strive to achieve at any level.

Same with horses, watching a horse & rider jump a Grand Prix round, or a dressage rider go through their freestyle at the Olympic games, is amazing. It's not just the performance they put in at that moment. It is thinking of all the hours training, literally the years of of work to get to that point, and all that people to sacrifice. It really is amazing the dedication, the drive, and the sheer physical ability of both the horse and rider at this level. Beautiful to watch

But i also find it inspiring those, who may never ride, compete, dance at the top level, but push themselves to be the best they can be anyway. Someone who develops complete harmony with their horse or maybe the less talented horse that gives his heart out jumping for his rider, to me is still an amazing acheivement. I know my last eventing horse and i, got to 2** level together, he was physically not very talented, not fast, didn't move very well, and was small, yet we won the national series for young riders, and managed to beat out far better horses on many occasions. This little horse taught me alot about how much heart counts. He tried harder than anything i have ever ridden since, and more importantly, looked after me, i was always safe on him, he gave everything i asked his best effort and more.

I made the heartbreaking decision to sell him, putting him on the plane to another country, knowing i'd probably never see him again, i cried my heart out, and over a year later i still miss him. With another young horse about to step up to that level again, i remember this horse more than ever because to me he achieved more, physically, it was so much harder for him, than it is for the new one. Every ribbon i won on my little underdog, will always have a special place in my heart, because i know how much more blood sweat, tears and importantly heart went into it. ( this special horse is now teaching another young girl in Australia, who loves him to, they send me photos, of him taking her around the cross country, it makes me happy seeing him do low level and never having to strain himself again, enjoying asn easy life after all he did for me)

I know I'm a sucker for the underdog, the not so glamorous horse. the one that everyone else looks past. I think its part of the reason i applied to get wild horses. I'm also of the belief, that any horse can be trained, and good horses are only ever as good as the person who trains them. I am lucky enough that i learned from people who were of similar mindset to me. i would love to show with these wild horses that, you can achieve so much with your horse through understanding, hard work, and dedication. Achievement is not always that Olympic medal, but developing yourself, and your horse, to the best of your physical abilities, and having a connection and understanding together.

But i can not stand the people who ruin the achievement of others by tainting a sport, whether, by using steroids, cheating the rules, or especially in horse sports through the use of cruel or abusive training techniques. There is no achievement and no beauty in something created through pain. Whether using horrible bits on a horse soft mouth, hyper flexing them until their tongues turn blue, racking their legs, anything that causes pain to encourage performance,or this that i read today on Fugly Horse of The Day, you are an arsehole, horses will do so much for you, yet like using steroids people try and find shortcuts to success, usually with hideous consequences! Thank god we dont even have the the sport, mentioned in Fugly, in this country!!

What will these two become?? One thing for sure as long as there with me i will never subject them to any cruelty, but i will aspire to continue to improve them through good training, patience and time.

Finally an update

2011-03-23T21:27:00.008+13:00

I started out this blog doing a photo update each month, but life got busier and somehow this all fell by the way side. So finally here are some photos of what the wild horses look like theses days. Sonny is huge, remember the tiny little thing back in november he is no more, now is a big, bay colt......

i know i have new followers, which is so so exciting! So for those of you who maybe havnt seen what the horses looked like when they came from the wild , il put some photos of their first days at the end of this post.

Silver Fern, Sonny (Silverson) and myself

The wild,wild stallion, Matai.

Mother and child, Sonny, is one day going to tower over his mother, he already almost the same height!

Matai his first week with us, 8 months ago

What they looked like when they arrived......

Creatures of habits

2011-03-17T13:04:00.003+13:00

We are all creatures of habit. Humans and horses alike.. No matter how spontaneous we think we are, everything we do comes back to a habitual behaviours and responses. It something that been on my mind for a while, but was brought to the forefront of my thoughts, as i watched a documentary about prison inmates, while curled up sick on the couch. The show, demonstrated prisoners who would be back in prison again and again, they couldn't break old habits, and most actually felt safer in a routine and pattern the new in prison, than trying to make it in the outside world. How does this have anything to do with the rest of us and horses?

Horses are very habitual animals, if you have them in a wild setting, or even just free in a paddock situation. You will notice they keep to a certain pattern during their days. Drinking at the same times, sleeping in the same spots, grazing the same way each day. they have a set routine to their lives, and in their behaviours. As do we human in our daily lives as well. This is why with riding horses, you try and structure their work the same way, warm them up the same way each day, work them, warm them down. Especially competition horses, this structure to their work helps them at competition and gives them security because they know what to expect.

Even little habits we don't notice we do, play a big part in our horses mind and how they cope. Every day i walk up to my wild horses a certain way, scratch them on the neck, and then put the halter on. Fern the wild mare, notices if i change the slightest thing, if i walk up to her in a rush, and try to slip the halter over her nose, she rolls her eyes back lifts her head, and her entire body stiffens with tension. This is not her routine. The wild stallion doesn't sweat little things like this, however I'm sure he would notice if i changed the routine completely, and went running madly in the paddock one day, and leaped on his back to go for a ride. As this would defiantly not be our routine way of doing things, he wouldn't have any idea what to expect. Just think how out of place you feel if you routine changes suddenly without warning??

What we want to do as trainers and riders, is create routines,habits, that are good, and set the horse up with a solid foundation to succeed throughout life. As unfortunately bad habits are much harder to break, and once established, horses always tend to revert back to them. Young horses and in my case, horses that have been wild and never handled, are an absolute molding block, you are free to create what you want, because there is no bad habits for them to revert back to.

it can be things as simple, as having a horse standstill for grooming or mounting, from day one, to hold its hoof quietly while you clean it. All this you can establish the very first time you do it. the more advanced habits too, for me always making sure my young horses learn to go straight without rushing into a jump, to move off my leg, to not lean on the bit, to move happily left and right, all this is so simple to teach in no time at all, as long as the person who rides the horse is paying attention. Because all these things are just habitual responses once they are learned, we are the ones who are in charge of making sure the horses learns the right ones from the wrong.

Say you let your horse drift to the left the first time it jumps, then the second time as well, by the third time this is a well established habit. All you had to do was correct that second jump and you would have been fine. But people let it go wrong, time and time again, usually because as the rider your off in 'la la' land, and suddenly that drifting to the left or whatever else has become a bad habit is now well established and usually will to some degree be there the rest of the horses life. sometimes its not even a particularly bad bad habit, just a little routine between you and your horse, like when you finish a ride your horses know to reach around for a scratch or a treat.

Sometimes however we humans create monsters....

Because horse responses are habitual, whether good, bad, in fear, in play, aggression whatever the circumstance the horse will have a certain behaviour it exhibits time and again. I'm going to tell a little story about a horse that got out of control really quick, through no fault of its own.

someone i knew bred themselves a baby horse this year, nice person, great horse person they are not, even though they love and take great care of their animals. They loved this little foal to bits, it was really friendly and happy etc etc. They waited until it was a couple of months old to try and halter break it, which is fine, i don't usually halter break mine until there a bit older either. This is where it went wrong, and little foal learned some habits that are really going to set him back in life..

they put the halter on no trouble, but when trying to lead little foal, up he reared in the air, so they stopped pulling on the rope until he settled down. A few minutes later they tried again, same result, rearing foal, they waited and tried again, rearing foal. The pattern went on for a while. finally they got sick of this gave the foal a hard tug on the rope, he reared, this time they didn't let go of the rope, foal struggles some more, until he goes right over backwards, and falls in a heap on the ground. horrified and feeling guilty, even though the foals fine, they are flexible little animals and seem to bounce back from these kind of things. But owners decide to call it a day and leave foal in paddock with mum.

What does foal learn from this?? A) he doesn't like the halter pulling on his face B) if he struggles enough humans will take it off and leave him alone, with little harm to himself.

The pattern was repeated over many months, Foal doesn't like halter, throws tantrum, owner feels bad and takes halter off. The horse wasn't only getting bigger and stronger and so were his tantrums.A really bad habit was forming, the foal learned if something he didn't like or found scary bothered him, the more violently he struggled the faster the thing was removed. This was not a naughty or crazy horse, just a smart one. It got to the point where he would threaten to rear up, and owner took the halter off. Unknowingly she rewarded the horse every single time he exhibited the behaviour she didn't want.

Eventually in despair the lady got help from me, thinking she may in fact end up shooting, or never being able to handle her much loved foal. it was not the hardest problem in the world to fix. As soon as she pulled on the rope, i pushed foal forward before he had the opportunity to throw himself backwards. The instant he took a step in the right direction, we rewarded him by giving him a little break. It really only took about 45minutes to reteach this foal how to lead. But he is always going to have a learned habit in him, to struggle against any new kind of pressure, to try and escape rather give in. Even with tying, for the first time we took caution, placing him in a spot he couldn't hurt himself, because as soon he realised he couldn't get away, he struggled and reared, genuinely terrified, because suddenly the halter wasn't taken off and throwing himself all over the place didn't remove the pressure. But he did learn and after a minute's struggle, stood happily without fear.

People make mistakes, i make heaps all the time, i know every new horse i train, i do a little bit better than the last. This person did a terrible job with this foal, she could have done so many things better from the the very beginning, but next time hopefully she wont repeat the same thing. The foal now weaned, will be a nice enough horse, hopefully in time the bad habit of his will fade away completely. Its just a shame because we as humans are responsible for so much of our animals behaviour, yet rarely do we look to our own habits to see if they are the cause.

What are you habits good or bad? how aware of them are you??

2011-03-16T20:11:00.002+13:00

I hate being sick, not that, I'm sure, anyone actually likes the experience. Four days later and I'm only just recovering enough to uncurl from my ball of misery. i wouldn't actually mind so much except, i had plans for this week, and it the busiest time of year for me, a few days off sets me back alot. Why cant i get sick midwinter, when things arnt so hectic??I was going to start riding the stallion, Matai again. There is to be a 5 hour trail ride this weekend, organised as a fundraisers, for the recent earthquake appeal, and it was my goal to take him on the ride, as it would be a really relaxed fun event, through some beautiful coastal scenery.

Alas, i don't think either if us will be quite up to it. Although Matai is amazing temperament wise. He is still to young to be dragged out of the paddock after weeks of no work, and be expected to behave, stay focused with mares and other horses all around, and with know real riding fitness, i don't want him getting saddle sore.

So disappointed, as it was going to be a great opportunity to show off him and these amazing wild horses and how versatile they are. but turns out it just isn't to be, ah well this is just the way with horses always unexpected setbacks and challenges to overcome, as I'm sure any horse person is well aware of....

the animals we love.

2011-03-14T12:14:00.003+13:00

It was a bad weekend, fighting off fever and chills, while riding two horses around cross country courses on Sunday, was not fun. in hindsight i probably should have just stayed home, but i didn't,and survived the experience anyway. both horses did their best with a rider that was definitely not on her 'A' game. it's also that time of year, when you having trouble remembering if that all elusive thing called 'sleep' really exists. Weekends involve early mornings and late nights, weekdays involve early mornings long hours, trying to catch up on all the work that is slipping by, due to constantly competing. It does get exhausting at times.

I'm not sure if its because I'm still under the weather, but i feel like curling up on a couch and sleeping, and hoping someone else will miraculously do all the jobs on the farm and feed all my horses for me...this unfortunately is not going to happen. Its only only me on the farm, so its only me who can do all the chores. But on days like theses, their is always something to keep me going. Whether its my constant companion and source of endless love and affection, Lucy the dog, or the cat that accompanies on all farm jobs, or at the moment, the wild stallion who's grazing in the backyard and keeps trying to climb the porch to come in and say "hi". these animals, with there very simple needs keep me going. I know its sounds cheesy, but its true. I think most animal lovers know what i mean to.

I do feel guilty, because i have done nothing with Matai, the wild stallion, since his show, a few weeks ago. Sure he gets handled and fed and a few pats each day but other than that hes had no further training, riding or handling. Yet everyday he waits and gives a big neigh of greeting from his paddock, and comes up for his cuddles and scratches. If you are to busy and walk by him, he gives you this huge doe eyed look, that melts even the most hardened of souls. Now the wild mare Fern, neighs to you, and does her best ' butter wouldn't melt in my mouth expression', but I'm not fooled by her, she wants food. Shes not to fussed if you don't pay her attention, as long as you don't forget to drop off her feed bucket or hay as you go. the stallion, never really seems interested in food at all, he comes to hang out with you, feed bucket or not, and genuinely seems curious and happy to be around you, content with life.

These little things when you put some much, blood, sweat, lets be honest tears and money into these creatures, does make all the difference. Because unlike my lovely Lucy, horses aren't really prone to emotional displays of affection toward you, in the way that dogs are. It makes me laugh that out of all my horses, the wild stallion, and one old crazy Arab, are the two most affectionate. The only two that seem to go right out of their way to come and be with you.They make up for the others that really only want the food and the occasional scratch.

So yesterday, I arrived home from the show, exhausted, disappointed with myself and my performance, feeling like i was burning from the inside out with the flu, pretty much like i wanted to have a big cry and a bit of a very rare for me 'female meltdown' that all girls seem to have when we get a bit too stressed. But the stallion gave me a huge whinny of greeting as soon as my car came to a stop, trotting all the way to the fence to say hi. This cheered me a bit. i unloaded the horses, dumped them in their paddock, did a rough job of finishing everything so i could go curl up inside for the night. The last job for the day was to top up a big bucket of water, for the stallion and his mate, who are grazing, what is supposed to be a backyard, but really is just knee high grass, with a few ornamental plants and fruit trees scattered around.

While waiting for the bucket to fill, i gave up all energy, and sat, then finally lay down on the grass to wait, arm over my eyes. As i lay there i heard the shuffling, soft thud of hooves, as Matai came to investigate my strange behaviour. Peeking out from under my arm, i saw the obviously perplexed expression of one little brown stallion, as he snuffled at my boots, then worked his way up,to breathe is hot, earthy breath in my face. After convincing himself it was only mum being weird, he stood happily over me, stomping at the occasional fly, while i gazed half comatose from the grass underneath, thinking to myself that no matter what " at least one horse loves me". No matter how bad i felt he was still happy to seee me.

Eventually i did manage to drag myself off the ground, the stallion still there, only giving me his big doe eyes again as i stood up. The doe eyes, work anytime, i went and gave him a big hug around his thick hairy neck. as well as a a good itch under his mane where i know he likes.

This morning again as i ventured outside i got, a huge whinny of greeting, as if to say " I'm so Happy to see you again", as the wild stallion trotted up to say hello. Even in my sorry state it put a big smile on my face, you cant stay sulking inside when you get that kind of greeting in the mornings. So somehow I'm going to get through the day, because its true, those animals we love and the little things they do, sometimes make everything possible.

ahh the glamourous life

2011-03-10T21:45:00.003+13:00

Urghh! i just got back from my one social outing of the year, and still in my party dress, changed the oil on the generator, in the dark. Started the motor, so i could get some electricity all the way to my house, and managed to finally turn my computer on, so i could have some connection to the civilised world, through this great invention called the Internet. After a long day of loading and unloading hay, worming horses, treating one very unhappy and large foal, then scrapping dried wormer out of my hair and skin at the end of theday, doing all those things that people don't envision, when you tell them you ride horses for a career.As much as i feel so privileged to be able to live the life i lead, its not all galloping your horse across wide open fields, with your hair blowing gracefully in the wind. Its hard slog most of the time, especially when you start getting involved in the breeding side of things, young horses are a lot more work than i think most people realise.

Its that time of year when all animals need drenching. We also have one foal (not the wild one), who unfortunately has had a hernia operation, which hasn't quite gone according to plan, requiring a bit more care than anticipated.Poor big sick foal, had to have her belly sprayed with iodine, and a antibiotic injection in her neck, neither is a pleasant procedure for her, and teaching her to stand somewhat still for it, is always a challenge, but it must be done. Again trying to hold a struggling, strong foal, as you try to spray her belly, is not what people envision when working with horses.

Now foals are defiantly cute little things, but they grow big and strong fast, and like children they have to learn a whole bunch , and you as the human are the one in charge of teaching them, and making these first crucial lessons the right ones. If your inclined to be a bit on the soft side of discipline you can quickly end up with a baby horse who has learnt all the wrong things, trust me i worked with enough spoilt foals, these things can be truly monsters.
Wrong lessons that horses can learn quickly, or really any animals, and are so preventable, it is just simple stuff. Not letting, them nibble on you, or push or shove even in play, when you first halter them they cant learn that they can pull loose and be free, or turn their hind end toward you in aggression. These little things that seem harmless at first turn into bug deals later on.the sick foal had to learn to stand still for injections, and today's lesson, for all three babies, they had to learn to allow themselves to be wormed.

The wild foal, is a great study in what a animal learns from its mother. Sonny exhibits the same reactions as his mother, in just about every situation. They use the same expressions when meeting other horses, both when worried instinctively turn away form you, rather than turn and face you, and many more funny little things. I know these are learned behaviours, because i have watched Sonny develop them over time.

His mother Fern is almost head shy, but shes actually happy to be rubbed all over, if allowed though, would much rather be looking the opposite direction. She doesn't like her nose being touched, i have taught her this is something she must just deal with, and it wont last forever. Sonny didn't have this behaviour to begin with, but the more he observed mum, the more he copied, its not a horrible flaw, just a funny little quirk they have, but one they learn to deal with, as you must be allowed to touch there nose. Sonny is happy to be haltered, but screws up his face, and looks away for just a second, as the halter slides, on or off his nose.

So worming, where your putting a big tube right in their mouth, is something that put both mother and son well out of their comfort zone. Fern though, has had it before and while not enjoying the experience,stood quietly for it. Sonny on the other hand was distressed. happy to have the big tube touch him, but rolling his eyes right back, and trying to move away as it came near his face. But the worst thing you can do in these situation is reward this behaviour by taking the 'scary' item away. So i just kept the tube there, until he stopped moving his feet, then took it away for a few seconds, rewarding the action of him standing still. Repeating this a couple more times, until he didn't move, even when the terrifying tube touched his nose, he was soon relaxed about the whole thing, blinking and licking his lips. next step was easy, tube in mouth, push the trigger, worming done. he pulled a sour expression, but stood quietly. it really is simple as that. None of these jobs have to be hard, but people make them hard, because they don't want to take the time, or don't want to be the 'mean' one.

But isn't that what being a horse person is, especially when you want to be the owner of one of those "O so Cuuuute" baby horses. You put in the miserable hours stacking hay, take the time to teach the lessons, treat the wounds, give the injections, do the time, so you can enjoy those blissful carefree moments of riding freely, in harmony with your horse wherever your heart takes you??

Wet winter weather

2011-03-07T12:59:00.004+13:00

There can be knowing denying it any longer, the weekend dealt me a hand of misery and on getting home last night, i had to scrounge around for exta blankets, this morning found me putting on warm pants and a jacket....All these signs,point me to one thing, winter is on its way.

My weekends was one of the most miserable i can remember, in fact i know i have never ridden my horse in such bad conditions. With over 400 entries, on cross country day, less than 50% even started there horses. In my division of 25 only 10 started the cross country and only seven finished, including me. It rained the whole weekend, cold, biting, unrelenting rain, that forced dampness into everything, nook, cranny and remaining dry space. Horse yards turned to knee deep mud overnight, and every big horse truck was towed from location by a tractor, as some people found themselves sunk down to their axles in mud by morning..

For the first time in my life i awoke on Sunday, and thought about not actually completing an event. My night of very broken,cold and wet sleep, in my horse trailer, had left me exhausted, my horse not looking much better outside in his yard. Trudging around the course again at 6.30am, sinking into almost knee deep mud in places, didn't leave me reassured about ground conditions either. With a bitter salty, wind from the sea, driving the rain and cold right through my body, i felt thoroughly depressed about the whole situation, battling the elements back to the semi shelter of the trailer.Only to be met by person after person packing up and heading for home. To make matters worse even the coffee guy had given up the ghost, and hadn't shown up for the morning.

But i don't know what it is, something inside me, i think is probably just to stubborn for my own good. the thought of giving up, irked me to much.I can handle giving it a go and pulling up halfway through if it was just to wet, but not even trying would bother me far to much. Plus i needed a second qualifying score for nationals. While i do have a boyfriend, and a wild stallion, my eventing horse is the other main man in my life, and i trust him completely. I knew he was up to the jumps, is good on his feet, and could probably handle wet conditions. So after scrounging some hot tea, and breakfast, which lifted my spirits tremendously, i saddled up.

heading to the warm up area, rider after mud splattered rider passed me heading for home. None when asked had anything positive to say about the course. Still i always feel better on my horse, and still feeling like we could do it, continued to the warm up. Only to find, where there should of been at least another twenty riders warming up, there was one lone horse and rider popping over the jumps.

This was not ideal, i had to do a fast warm up, getting both my horse and me limbered up and mentally awake, before popping over the practise fences, he handled this fine, not finding the footing to hard going, deep yes, slippery no. So after angling a couple of practice fences to really sharpen up my horses jump, we headed to the start box.

As a rider and especially an eventing rider, you have to be in tune with your horse, this is whay in training at home i ride in all weather conditions.there also has to be a certain amount of trust that your horse can take care of itself, and you as a rider let it do so, and don't interfere because of your own nerves. This is what i did. Instead of pushing for time, i let my big boy find his rhythm and stay in it, the whole way around the course.

The going was deep, especially in between jumps, where you had long gallop stretches in bog like conditions. at least right before the fences the ground was so churned it actually made the going lighter. My boy cruised the whole thing in his big medium canter, not having any problems with the jumps or footing. We made it home clear with a couple of time faults, but not as many as i expected so all in all i was pleased.

I'm glad i didn't call it a day and go home. I am proud and take huge satisfaction in the fact that i finished and have my ribbon to take home, as proof that i survived the cross county at Puhinui 2011!

what i do on weekend, what do u do?

2011-03-03T20:21:00.002+13:00

Well its Thursday night, and tomorrow i will be heading off to yet another show. This time with my big warm blood to go eventing (dressage, cross country, showjumping, all in one).For three weeks in a row now, Ive driven to our country's biggest city to compete at three different shows. Its kind of a long haul, 4 hours each way. Competing horses is not a cheap sport, its all the extra costs, like, diesel, road user charges, food for horse and rider etc that really start to send the cost sky rocketing, rather than just the cost of entering a show, although this isn't cheap these days either. It is a continuous struggle to just break even, as prize money is very minimal. For me its also very long hours spent driving alone to and from competitions. But i do love what i do, and I'm very driven to compete, so i don't really mind the hours and cost of it all.

Their are huge bonuses to this life style as well. You get to see parts of the country, you'd never realise existed otherwise. You get to travel with your horse, and camp, and spend endless hours with your equine friend. Even though sometimes it is a bit of a lonely, you get to meet lots of new people, who are interested in the same sport as yourself and share lots of common ground. Generally its also a life style that keeps you fit, healthy and inspired to keep improving your riding. Plus riding a cross country course, is the absolute biggest adrenaline buzz i know. So you always come away, completely exhilarated.

But the things is this is my absolute passion, even if i didn't compete, i have absolutely no idea what 'normal' people do on the weekend. I cant imagine actually having spare time to do any other activities. What do people actually do if they don't own horses? or animals for that matter? or even what you do if you have animals but are'nt traveling to and from shows every weekend?

So tell me what is your normal weekend?? What does everyone who doesn't lead my hectic, crazy life style do with themselves??

Good horses born or made???

2011-03-01T11:39:00.002+13:00

There are so many thoughts swirling around in m head at the moment, I'm having trouble making order, of just what i want to say. The wild horse show, put on by the KWHWT, has given me lots to think about, my stallion's training and behaviour while very good, still has some tiny issues that need fixing, it also made me realise how vunerable to abuse and neglect these horses are, once they are removed from the wild. but also what a great and diverse group of horses, fitting into every different niche of the horse riding world. They really do seem to inspire people, and everyone there, from all walks of life, seemed to really love and take pride in their horses, regardless of how they did. Except for one exception...who hated there horse, and swore they would never own another one. This annoyed me something chronic, not because they didn't like there horse, but the reasons they didn't like it, and the complete lack of understanding and responsibility on their part.

I'm firmly of the belief, that while talented horses are born, good horses are made. Its up to the human to make a happy, well mannered and well behaved horse. Ive never met a horse that was born nasty, or one that couldn't be improved with a little understanding and good manners (from both the person and horse). I'm not just thinking of this one person at the show, because there are so many others at all shows, and throughout the horse world, who are completely blind to there own faults, and spend there whole time blaming the horse for all the worlds problems...

Horses are just animals, and prey animals at that. They lack the cunning and brain power to be able to plan out and think ahead of ways to annoy their owner, why would they want to anyway? horses just react to whatever is going on around them. If you the handler, is stressed, irritated, and conveying those emotions into the way your dealing with your horse, they sure as hell, will pick up on it, they just don't understand the reason behind it, so therefore only react to whatever your doing, usually by becoming stressed or agitated themselves. Yelling, constantly nagging, pulling and whacking just doesn't solve anything, except to get you both more stressed, the horse just wants to get right out of there, away from the crazy handler a and the area where all the strife is occurring.

Somethings can be solved so simply, just teach you horse to lead quietly so your not dragging, or being dragged around the ring. Teach it to be light in the mouth, and make sure it understands clear aids for what it means to trot, walk and halt. To many times the horse hasn't really been taught anything and has no idea what to do, when people start swinging whips, jerking its mouth, its just plain old confused, while the human is getting upset because things go pear shaped in front of the judge. To me this is just good basic training, that you do with every horse.

I'll admit there was a couple of times, Matai spooked at something in the ring, or was worried about trotting past where all the people were sitting. He didn't do it on purpose, and hadn't planned it he was just reacting to things as he came across them. But by the last few classes he was foot perfect, and wasn't worried about anything. he never dragged me around and 90% of the time was extremely well behaved and attentive. If he did get distracted by other horses, i didn't simple hit him, or jerk on his bridle, but did little exercises to get his attention back to me. Then when he was standing happily i left him alone, to help him understand this was the behaviour i wanted. You really just have to give them a chance to understand, what is acceptable and what is not.

For me the whole show was just a test to see how well he coped with everything. he did well, you forget, that theses horses were once wild and can take a little time to get used to new people. It did the little wild stallion wonders, to have all sorts of people come up and rub, pat and lean all over him. It moved him slightly out of his comfort zone, but in a positive way, because he quickly relaxed around all the differant people, even the judge took the time to pat him and get him used to being examined. I also from time to time parked him in amoungst all the other horses, becuase he needs to know that no matter what going on he is to stand quielty, and that stallion behaviour is not acceptable. If you dont take the time time to teach them this stuff they dont magically learn it.

Talking to other people with wild horses, even though not all had gotten them straight form the wild, Made me realise that there are some kind and generous people that really go out of their way to help these horses. But there are some horses that do end up in horrible situations, because once people realise the dream of training a wild horse, is very differant from the reality of it, they giive up, and the animals end up starving, abused or completly neglected, and usally wilder than when they were first mustered. They are wild animals after all and realistically the first bit of traing and handling is probably not for begginers! Again good on all the people who do help them and KWHWT who try and keep track of adopted horses, and rescue any who are in trouble.

The weekend that was

2011-02-27T21:39:00.003+13:00

What a weekend! the stallion got to his show, and my dog retained her title and trophies as the fastet swiming dog in the area, and i spent ten hours driving between the two.

Thanks to Marilyn and Kristine, for finding and providing a place for Matai and myself to stay.
I met so many wonderful people, and their horses. It was a great show, with a great many supportive individuals who made me feel so welcome!

An hour or two ago, my little wild stallion, backed wearily down the ramp of the horse float,. Walking back to his paddock in the growing dusk and the first creeping cold of autumn weather, the poor boy looked exhausted. the travelling, competing, socialising and spending the night in a strange new paddock had certainly taken their toll on him. He had learned that the world was a whole lot bigger than he thought it was, with many a strange thing to be seen and experienced!

But throughout it all his behaviour was impeccable, he learned to behave around other horses, mare, stallions no matter what they were. Apart from a few shrill calls to begin with in the ring, he settled down perfectly. We did end up with a few ribbons, but ill will have to write up the full story next time, as for now i need some sleep

Show day is coming!!!

2011-02-25T21:21:00.002+13:00

Matai the stallion, is looking back to normal, with no more swelling in his leg. So I'm off down country to the show tomorrow. To be honest, i don't have huge expectations, as although i love my boy, I'm the first to admit, he struggles to look anything more than just a little brown pony. But i cant wait to meet all the other people with Kaimanawa horses, and see the horses themselves of course!

Poor wild stallion, he was washed and shampooed to within an inch of his life today. That mane of his is so thick, that when i finally applied enough soap and water to wet it through, his head was down by his knees with the weight of it all, and with that thick black hair he looked like Bob Marley caught in a rain storm.

I'm going to admit that i may have been a little keen in doing my entries though. Because although i would like to perform a horse training miracle,the stallion, having a couple days off this week with a sore leg, just hasn't had enough rides, to be able to compete in the ridden section of the show. Even though hes wonderful, less than ten rides with a saddle and bridle is just far to few, to then go to a show and ask him to perform it is asking for trouble, and could potentially undo all his good training.

Anyway i will be away for the weekend, but cant wait to see how the show goes, will be a learning curve for both me and the horse as to be honest i don't know what to expect either.

A whole lot of shaking going on

2011-02-23T20:05:00.004+13:00

For those of you who haven't heard, my little country is having a rough time.

For the first time in New Zealand's history, it has been declared a state of national emergency. For the second time in six months, one of our major cities, Christchurch, has experienced a major earth quake.

The death toll, 31 hours after the event, stands at 75, with hundreds still missing. The national news channel, is running non-stop news coverage. The images coming through are heartbreaking. Whole towns, buildings, roads, and the complete city center, shaken to the ground.

Thank you, for those of you who sent well wishes!! My ponies and I, are safe, being situated on the other island and well out of the danger zone. However i ride a horse for a client, who lives in Christchurch, thankfully she is safe, but has lost just about everything in the quake. I heard a farmer on the radio had to shoot all his favorite cows, because they had fallen in a crevasse which opened up in his paddock. My heart goes out to them all!!

Disaster like this put everything in perspective!!

UH-OH

2011-02-22T11:35:00.003+13:00

Matai, the wild stallion, has his big show this weekend. Yesterday he had his first ride in a bridle and was fantastic!

Today he has one big fat front leg.....Swollen from the knee down to the fetlock. No obvious wound or mark on him, and i have checked him thoroughly. Not problems in his feet either. Hes not really lame, although hes not wanting to trot out as freely as usual...

Uh-oh is all i can think. It would be terrible to miss his first show! Hes such a sturdy wee thing its unusual for him to have this kind of problem.

My guess is, because we are having such weird weather patterns here, hot extremely humid summer, lots of horses are coming up with weird skin conditions,grass staggers and other abnormalities that we don't usually see. So I'm hoping this swelling is just due to grass and heat, as every couple of years we have the odd horse, come up with weird swollen legs that go down after a day or two, although usually its all four legs, not just one. Ive been told its due to high toxin levels in some grasses.

hes had a good feeds with extra supplements, hopefully he will be all cleared up by tomorrow. Fingers crossed

2011-02-17T20:41:00.009+13:00

I love my little wild stallion, but it is not magical the relationship we have. Horses are horses and if you treat them right, train them correctly, and understand them, you can do amazing things. There really is no better feeling than the galloping freely across the beach, or the rush of adrenaline and sensation of a huge adventure when exploring new places. Knowing your horse is your partner, the feeling you can trust them, and the sense of achievement i get when i know i have done all the training myself is a huge thrill for me, and the reason i chose to work with these creatures.

Whether mastering a new dressage movement, jumping a big scary obstacle, or just out riding rough country and making it through challenging terrain, its all the same to me. Its an adrenaline rush, I love the feeling of knowing my horse will do whatever i ask, and do it safely. That's all training should ever be, is teaching a horse that if you ask it something, anything, it must try to do it and gets rewarded for that. the more trained, the more refined the questions we ask of it.

Anyway...not magic what i can do with the stallion. he is lovely and i definitely had a great horse to start with. But its all the little things most people take for granted that makes horses amazing.

i can ride him with mares, because i handle him around mares. When handled, there are simple rules, he must stay focused on me and the job at hand. if he gets distracted he gets asked to work, or move or anything to get his focus to me again. Calling out, looking around, are outside the boundaries of acceptable behaviour. when he is focused on me and not distracted, hes always rewarded, so staying focused and ignoring whatever else is going on, becomes pleasant and reassuring thing for him to do. Simple as that....well almost that simple anyway.

horse are herd animals, they like leadership. if you can be ther leader, them kindly and compassionately as well as clearly in a way they understand, then they generally are happy and unstressed and really will do anything for you..

The beach story..

I didn't actually plan to ride the stallion down the beach bareback. When we got up there, we realised that we'd been to overcome with anticipation and excitement, both my friend and i, had forgotten our helmets, as well as one of the girths for the saddle. So in the spirit of fairness, we decided to both go bareback, and took turns with the spare helmet i had in the car.

I did however have a quick, literally 5minute ride on Matai, with both the saddle and helmet, when we first got there, before moving on to bareback, when we started our ride.

This didn't really bother either of us, we spent every summer holiday when we were younger, riding across farms, beaches and the steepest wildest places we could find. We usually did this dawn until dusk. The horses were'nt bothered either, we were relaxed and so were they. Even upon coming across the roaring waves and water, they looked with ears pricked but didn't get upset.

We had a blast! i think the horses did to. The stallion came across tussock grass in the dunes and obviously recognised it as edible from the mountains, as every opportunity had him stuffing his mouth full, while my other mare politely declined to eat it. The rough and varying terrain got both horses using their brains and bodies and they adapted well, and never had to be asked to do anything twice. they walked, trotted forward happily and confidently, completly at ease with what ever we came across

i could go on and on...but basically, i had a fantastic time and even though i don't believe in magic i still think Matai, the wild stallion is amazing.

So did all the people who met him on the beach!! I got to explain his story to many a tourist and now all over the world their will be people, with a photo or two of the wild horse from New Zealand

the wildest ride yet

2011-02-15T22:19:00.002+13:00

I have had the most amzing day! I am still high on adrenaline from the wildest ride yet.

To excited its write up the whole story, il put up the pictures for now.

The start of the ride....

Sand dunes
Me holding the mare and riding the stallion with the beach stretching out behind us...

The veiw from the back of the wild stallion...

My best mate, who has accompanied me on many a crazy adventure, and I, spent the whole day riding the wild stallion, and a pony mare of mine, bareback across the beach, and rough country, two hours drive north of me.

For those of you who havnt experianced the sheer exhilaration of galloping a horse along a beach, and felt the power and freedom of it. I can not even begin to describe the thrill, but it is amazing, and reminds me of all the reason i work with horses.

Stopping for our lunch break....

We galloped along beaches, climbed up sand dunes, went through forests and scrub country, limbo'd under branches, weaved between trees, and slithered down banks of pine needles so steep you were leaning right back against the horses rump for balance...All this on a stallion that has been had only a handful of rides in his entire life, and 6 months ago was runing wild across the moutain sides. All of this we managed bareback in only a halter,with the other horse being a mare (in season) and never once did i feel worried or his attention drift from the job at hand. he kept me safe and sound, was perfectly behaved, and both riders and horses alike had a faboulous day!!

When a day goes ten kinds of wrong

2011-02-13T14:55:00.003+13:00

My day hasn't been a good one, and its only just now that the reason behind that are coming clear.

this i would assume is the main culprit.....well him or his owner at least

I get so so pissed off with irresponsible animal owners its not funny. We get loose pig dogs showing up at our farm from time to time....we are the last stop between the road and hundreds of acres of beautiful native forest. It is a favorite for feral pigs and there for hunters and their dogs. I don't have a problem with hunters, just when they happen to be irresponsible and idiotic hicks, like future events showed these ones to be....

At 2am this morning i woke to hear galloping, thundering hooves and high shrill screams of a foal. My life is nothing, if not action packed. I was the only one home as it happened, so leaping out of bed i grabbed the torch and a halter from the back door, and took off ruining for the paddock. There i found the youngest foal,who had either gone over or under his paddock fence, and was runing up and down along the wrong side, bordered on the other side by a steep bank into the stream. Excellent. I haltered the mare, who was galloping up and down on the correct side of the fence, to keep pace with her baby. After a few attempts of trying to get the foal back to correct side of fence, i gave up and got wire cutters.

by 3am after cutting the wire, moving the foal, and fixing the fence again. I was back in bed, knowing i had to be up again at 5.30am to go to a show for the day.

I woke up at 7am.

This is the first time i have slept in for a show in my entire life.

The show i was going to was a dressage championship, and my first test was to be 8.30am, i live just over an hour away from the showgrounds. my horse wasn't plaited or ready to go in any way shape or form. My day was getting worse. For an instant i contemplated, just rolling over and going back to to sleep, but I'm to competitive for my own good. Again i hit the ground running, ran to find my horse, found that her and the rest of the herd had gone through the electric tape in the night and were happily munching on knee high grass id been saving for winter. day got even worse. Rolled up electric fence, caught horse and ran back to load her for the show. Except the trailer had sprung a flat tire. Day now verging on near disaster.

i got to the show after changing the tire myself, only to be to late for my first test anyway. but still had 15minutes to get to the second test. i asked a random lady to help me (god bless her kind soul, she saved me) and in ten minutes i had my horse plaited and was on her back, no time for warm up. I went and rode my second test. It was not great, but i couldn't have expected it to realistically have gone any better with no warm up. From there it was straight to the last test of the day. Literally leaving one arena and straight to the next. The last test wasn't a great improvement. horse was tense and the whole thing was just a bit of a disaster. i really would have done better top save the gas money and stayed home. I headed back to the the farm feeling depressed and frustrated, with the morning events.

Just when i thought day couldn't get any worse , i dove up to the house, unload the horse, look to the paddock to find a big brown dog, chasing cattle.

F*$K, SH!T, CR%P!!!!!!! Was all i thought. Dogs chasing stock is about every livestock owners, nightmare. i threw the horse back in her paddock, and took off running for the cows. Getting closer, i slowed to a walk. I wanted to catch this dog not scare it back into the bush. I let out a loud whistle, and miraculously it stopped and started to come towards me, i whistled and called it again in my friendliest tone "come on boy, come on". But on hearing this my own dogs leaped from an the veranda of the house where they were locked and coming running to me. The brown dog turned tail and ran for it.

To cut a very long story short, ten minutes later the dog reappeared. This time i had my own dogs tied, my biggest fear being that if this was an aggressive dog, i didn't want it tearing my dogs to pieces. I called it again, and again it came toward me then ran back into the bush. This time i followed calling and whistling. I started walking around the trees where i last saw it disappear, and then turned around to find it sitting on the trail behind me, wagging its tail and panting. i called it over put a rope on it and took it to the house. It was a nice dog, a chocolate lab mix, happy and friendly, but covered in fleas and a bit mangy looking, as well as very thin.I tied it up, gave it some food and water and left it, happily relaxing in the shade of the house. Waiting for the owners to show up and reclaim it.

I didn't have to wait long. A couple hours later A beat up yellow Ute came rattling down the driveway, a dog cage sitting on the back. i walked out to meet them leading the brown dog, who on seeing the truck started wagging his tail and emitting happy whines of greeting. No dount these were his owners.Two men got out, looking every bit the beer swilling, country hick idiots they were. one wearing socks but no shoes, and a bear gut poking over the waist band of his pants, the other in a well over sized heavy rock singlet and ripped jean tucked into over sized gumboots.

Yea it was there dog, they'd gotten 'a bit messed around' hunting last night and ended up coming out the back of my farm, 5km from where they were supposed to be. About the time they described themselves 'banging around in the trees' is about the time i had horses running through fences....Co incidence? i think not? it doesn't take a huge amount to spook horses, and strange noises from the forest probably would have done it.

The guy explained that he walked to the end of our road and then called a mate to come pick him, his fellow hunter, and his dogs up. " 'cept i forgot to count ma hounds 'n left this fellow behind, ma best duck dog, he is". Genius. he only realised later in the day when he let the dogs out of the truck again.

I gave him back the dog, after telling him about the stock chasing and the horses in the night. he apologized and went on his way.

Not very far on his way, his truck battery had died, and while him and his mate tried roll starting it, it rolled all they way into a ditch on the side of the drive. They were now stuck at my place, Just when i thought my day might be getting better, it suddenly got worse...

I hoped in the farm truck and drove it down to them. He tried jump starting off my vehicle, but that didn't even wake a response from his tired old truck. So next he fished out a rope, as i offered to give him a tow out of the ditch at least. The rope snapped 3 times before i went back to the house and got our tow chain.

Finally towing him out of the ditch and along the drive, i was suddenly slammed forwards into the steering wheel, as my truck was smashed from behind. In-bred hick hadn't thought to use his brakes, and rolled his truck right into the mine.....WTF!!!! i wondered if this guy could be any dumber? luckily the farm truck is a hunk of junk and wasn't damaged.

Next the guy, who was sinking ever lower in my opinion, asked if he could " borrow a spanner, I'll just go ahead in be putting this good battery back in" as he lifted another car battery off the back of his truck.....Really? he couldn't have done this to begin with??

finally after countless minutes of fiddling with spanners and wires and continuous commentary about what a 'bad day he was having' he had the battery fixed in place, the truck started (thank god), and he was on his way again.

I think my bad day defiantly topped his bad day. But looking back all i can do is chuckle to myself, what a comedy of errors!! At least his loose dog and stomping around the forest in the night only resulted in broken fences not broken animals....His stupidity also had the positive effect of making me feel really intelligent by comparison.

Sometime is goes so wrong you have to laugh!!

exhausted but happy

2011-02-11T23:39:00.004+13:00

I'm sitting here slumped over the keyboard, to tired to drag myself out of my chair and to bed. Days at the moment are long and exhausting, i rode a record number of horses today in the stifling summer heat, and feel absolutely bone tired. But even so, I'm very happy. I had another fantastic rider on my 'wild stallion', Matai.

He was as usual, an angel. Just a quick ride around the paddock, walking trotting and cantering both directions (with a saddle), was all i had time for. But even so, I'm happy, he stays focused and attentive the whole time, and in a horse that is so very very green, i really couldn't ask for more..

the floods

2011-02-10T13:45:00.004+13:00

Here are some pictures from the floods we had ten days ago......Oh and i have decided the wild stallion and I, are going to the show, the other other horse can compete later in the season.

The top photo is of the road between my house and the nearest town, this is just after it opened, it was closed for two days as the water rushed right over, the poor farmer lost all his fences. This is usually beautiful flat paddocks full of cows....

All the gates on the farm, that we had to leave closed, got warped like this one. Note also the level of debris on the other gate, all from the flood water, This was one of the higher gates too, and was so warped, we had to use crowbars and sledge hammers to open it.

Let me repeat January and February are our DRIEST months!! We have already had two floods and more rain predicted for the weekend, and the temperature fluctuates between freezing cold, and scalding hot beach weather.

In other news Fern has a new Bedroom/ Pen. Where her and her big beautiful boy, Sonny, spend ther days. As due to the wet weather, we have so much grass, im worried Fern will eat herself to death. So she gets the pen, with a feed and hay during the day and out with the main herd at night. Sonny spends his days just sleeping in mum's shadow..... But if you look closely at this photo, you can see Sonny sitting on a big pile of hay...this happens everyday. You put the hay in the pen, Sonny spreads it out, lies down on it like a bed, and has a nap. While poor Ferm is stuck trying to nibble bits out from underneath him. After his nap he gets up and eats all the remaing hay, its a daily ritual, that makes me laugh everytime. What mothers put up with ay...

Should i stay or should i go???

2011-02-07T21:13:00.002+13:00

I have been told that my last few posts i wrote, are more like essays, than blogs, and a bit long to be easy to read. So ill try and keep them a bit shorter from now on....

So here's a question.... The Kaimanawa Wild Horse Welfare trust is having there annual show. It's at then end of this month, so i have only a few days left to do entries. Its the same weekend as i had scheduled another show for my eventing horse to go to.

Which one do o choose??

I really would love to attend the, wild horse show, because

I think the KWHWT do a really great job placing horses in good homes and set up a good support network for those who take on the horses from the wild, and i would like to support them

Would be great to get my wild stallion out and about, i love showing off my horses. But also to see other Kaimanawas and get to know a bit more about the breed.

Its closer than the other show, cheaper to enter, and would be for me, more of a fun event, about participating rather, than serious competition that my career depends on...

But the other show, would give me a chance to gain a qualifying score, for the national three day event, although i could possibly do another show later in the season to qualify. I'm also quite a competitive person, although i love my stallion, not sure hes wining material, and hasn't been ridden long enough to realistically have a chance for the ridden classes. Also traveling, is slightly more challenging with a stallion, if they don't have suitable yards at the show i would have to find somewhere to stay...as being so far away i would definitely have to travel down the day before.....But overall these are all solvable problems

i just cant make up my mind.....

Also how are u meant to show them, ie, in their natural state, with long manes and feathers on their feet. Or are they meant to look like a show horse plaited and trimmed?

I have put Matai on a show horse diet and have been giving him extra grooming each day so he'l be in tip top condition, just in case....